Stockholm Syndrome
by Hannibal ad Portas
Summary: AU: Sirius breaks out of Azkaban eight years early, and rescues Harry from the Dursleys. Eleven years later, Ginny is accidentally kidnapped....by Harry? HG
1. Default Chapter

AN

Here's that slightly more original fic I've been promising. I can safely say that I have NEVER read or even heard of a story with anything even remotely close to this since I started reading HP fan fiction, much less one that was H/G, so I hope no one comes on and tells me that I took it somewhere, because I swear that I didn't.

Besides, I canguarantee the twist in chapter 1 (since this is a prologue) will be both unexpected and completely my idea.

Now, as I said in the last chapter of Betrayal of the Light, I write this fic when I'm having trouble writing that one, so updates will be a little slower. I think there will still be about one every week though. This will be a Harry/Ginny fic. There may be other pairings, but as of yet I haven't decided.

Special thanks to my (official on this one) co-writer JC-S, who's ideas comments, and beta-reading are invaluable. Also a big thank you to my beta, Yavinbase, who spots things I never would have with seeming ease.

Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one that I write of in this story. It all belongs to the wonderful, brilliant J.K. Rowling.

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Stockholm Syndrome

Prologue

Breakout

Sirius Black sat in human form, gazing out the bars of his small window dejectedly. Halloween. It had been four years since he had failed them. Four long lonely years. Lily and James were dead; it was all his fault. They had depended on him, and it had cost them their lives.

Now he was in Azkaban, supposedly for killing 13 innocent people. His hands curled into fists at the very thought. Peter. He had betrayed them all. Soon, Sirius was going to leave this place, and he was going to take his revenge on Peter. As soon as he found him, of course.

He studied the bars on the window. He might be able to do it. He was thin enough, in his animagus form. The dementors were far enough away that he only felt cold instead of reliving his painful memories.

A sudden resolve came over him. Yes, he could do it. He would escape now. He needed to take care of Harry, he needed to take him away from the relatives Lily had told him she hated. He owed his deceased best friends that much. Perhaps he could make up for his mistakes in some small way.

His nose grew into a long snout, hair sprouted up all over his body, and a tail grew from his hindquarters. He was in dog form. Unnaturally thin from a combination of not eating, fatigue, and grief, he squeezed his way through a gap between two bars.

There was a slight drop, and he was on the tiny strip of ground between the fortress of Azkaban and the low cliffs above the sea. He gulped looking out at the seemingly endless waves of blue. It was going to be a long swim.

He jumped off the cliff. It wasn't a very long drop, but long enough to give him quite a shock when he hit the water. It was cold, almost unbearably so, but he had to do it. He had failed Lily and James. He was not going to fail their son. He struck out strongly in the general direction of land, hoping that his strength would hold until he got there.

A spider scuttled across 5-year-old Harry Potter's face, waking him from a rather pleasant dream. He hurriedly brushed the little creature off as he thought about the dream it had interrupted.

It had been about a long-lost brother of his father's coming to take him away from the Dursleys forever, telling him he never had to see them again.

Oh, how he wished it were true. He hated living with the Dursleys, and they hated him living with them. Ever since his parents had died in a car crash, he'd had to live with them, though they treated him like dirt, or perhaps something lower than dirt.

That was why his bedroom was actually the cupboard underneath the stairs. That was why his bed was just a folded over blanket. That was why he both dreamed and daydreamed about someone coming to take him away from them.

It was really all he could do to pass the time when they locked him up, anyway.

And they locked him up often, for even the smallest thing. The latest incident, for instance, wasn't even his fault.

His cousin, Dudley, had been poking him again before dinner, calling him a 'freak.' Naturally, that had made Harry very angry, but he had learned the hard way that saying anything was a bad idea, so he tried to ignore it.

When his over-large cousin attempted to sit down a moment later, his chair had somehow managed to mysteriously move several inches backwards, causing him to fall flat on his backside.

Over Dudley's loud, hysterical tears, Harry's Uncle Vernon had shouted out that it was Harry's fault and that he was confined to his cupboard for two days.

None of Harry's protestations that he hadn't even been near the chair made any difference.

That was why, in the afternoon of the very next day, Harry was sleeping in his cupboard instead of working hard at some household chores for his aunt. The only reason he wasn't quite happy to trade off these two activities was that he didn't get any meals in the cupboard.

The sound of number four's front doorbell ringing brought Harry abruptly out of his daydream. His ears perked up interestedly. The Dursleys didn't get very many visitors.

Footfalls outside his door signaled his aunt going to let whoever it was in. A moment later, he heard her shriek in fright.

Dust fell from the woodwork above his head as his uncle rushed down to see what was the matter.

Harry heard angry voices at the door that soon moved into the living room. Whoever had been at the door argued with his aunt and uncle for several minutes before he heard a loud, angry-sounding roar.

"He's WHERE?"

Loud, pounding footsteps approached his cupboard, and the door was suddenly flung wide open. In the doorway stood a tall skeleton of a man. His face was gaunt and white, and his skin seemed stretched across it, making it look more like a skull than a living person's face. His clothes were torn and filthy, and his black hair was long and unkempt, cached with grime.

His expression, though, was the worst. He was obviously livid. Harry shrank back into the corner in fear.

When he saw this, the man's face softened, and he flashed Harry a reassuring smile, before fixing his face once more into an expression of rage and turning to the Dursleys.

"What do you think you're doing!" he roared. "He's your NEPHEW! And this is how you treat him?"

"That _thing_," said Vernon, indicating Harry with his hand, "Is of no relation to us. He's nothing but a worthless freak, just like his parents-"

Vernon had a hard time talking after that, because he had lost three teeth to the man's fist.

"Don't you EVER say that about Lily and James again. You're lucky I'm in a hurry, or I'd do more than that. I'm taking Harry now; I suggest you get out of here before I do something I'll regret."

Vernon, still clutching a hand to his bleeding mouth, fled into the kitchen, Petunia hot on his heels.

The man turned back to Harry, smiling brightly. "Hello," he said. "My name is Sirius Black. You're Harry, right?"

Harry nodded, reassured by Sirius' smile. "D-did you know my parents?" he asked hesitantly.

"Sharp as a tack you are," Sirius laughed. "Yes, I did know them. In fact, they made me your godfather. Do you know what that means?" Harry shook his head, so Sirius continued, "It means that if anything happened to them, they wanted me to take care of you. I'm sorry it took me so long to get here, but I'm here now, and you can come live with me if you want."

Was he kidding? Anything was better than living in a cupboard. Harry nodded excitedly, making Sirius laugh at his enthusiasm.

"Alright then, come with me."

They walked outside together, and Sirius picked a broom off the porch, much to Harry's confusion. He held it out in front of him and swung his leg over it easily, then indicated that Harry do the same in front of him.

Harry just stood there, staring at him blankly.

"It's alright, Harry, just climb aboard. I'll explain later," he said laughingly.

Harry hesitantly swung his leg over the broom, and Sirius put one arm around the boy's waist to hold him steady.

A moment later, they rocketed straight up into the blue sky, and Harry screamed in terror.

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AN 

Well that's it. It's just a prologue, but please review. I promise future chapters will be infinitely longer, especially if I get lots of reviews.

Who can tell me what the title of the story (Stockholm Syndrome) actually means?


	2. Kidnapping

AN

Wow! I got so many reviews for the prologue I decided to get this up sooner than I originally planned.

I'm skipping over the next 11 years completely, though I promise that we will find out more about the adventures Harry's had with his godfather through flashbacks and/or him telling Ginny about his life.

For the purposes of this fic, events such as the Chamber, Philosopher/Sorcerer's stone, Triwizard Tournament, etc.. NEVER HAPPENED. I know it's a stretch, but that's Alternate Universe for you. I do have alternate explanations that will come up later in the fic. And also, Voldemort HAS been re-born, that's another thing I'll explain in another chapter.

Thanks once more to JC-S, who in addition to being my co-writer (he helps me plan it), a great editor, the one who came up with "Stockholm Syndrome" as the name for this fic, and my brother, also lets me borrow his CDs! Listens to Switchfoot  
Also thanks to Yavinbase, who isthe mostfantastic beta.

On with the story!

Disclaimer: see Prologue

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Chapter 1

Kidnapping

Nearly 11 years later. . .

Harry glanced nervously from side to side as he walked quickly down Diagon Alley. He was cloaked and hooded, but he still felt as though everyone was watching him, as though they knew who he was. He had to avoid being recognized at all costs. If he were, the results would be disastrous.

No one knew what had become of him since that day when his godfather had come to take him away. Only Voldemort had known for sure that he was still alive, and now even he thought Harry was dead. It had to stay that way until he was ready. Ready to face the man who had killed his parents.

He was so absorbed in his morbid thoughts, he failed to notice the young, redheaded girl walking towards him with her head bent low. Consequently, he ran straight into her, knocking her flat.

"Oh!" he cried. "I'm SO sorry. Here, let me help you." He held out his hand to help her up, and then bent to pick up the shopping bags she had dropped when he knocked into her. He glanced up at her and froze.

Her long, dark red hair was spilling over her shoulders, seeming to reflect every bit of light left in the now darkening alley. Her soft, chocolate brown eyes sparkled with mirth, perhaps at his embarrassment, and her face was lit up with a stunningly brilliant smile.

He sucked in a breath. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

As he watched, her eyes suddenly widened in shock, and he realized, too late, that she had seen his scar.

"Y-y-y-you're - you're," she stuttered.

Thinking fast, and still clutching her shopping bags, Harry glanced around to make sure no one was watching and clamped a hand over her mouth. He dragged her down a small alley. She struggled mightily, and it was all he could do to keep his hold on her. She managed to kick his shin and he winced - she was strong, despite her small size.

He pushed her against the wall, keeping his hand over her mouth. "I promise I'm not going to hurt you," he said hurriedly. "I just can't have you screaming out my name all over the Alley. Promise you won't scream?"

She nodded into his hand, and he released her slowly, in case she decided to scream anyway.

"Why?" she asked, her eyes still bright with fear.

"Everyone thinks I'm dead," he whispered. "It has to stay that way for now."

He could tell she didn't understand. He hurriedly tried to come up with a solution to the mess he had managed to land himself in, but the sound of footsteps approaching them interrupted him.

Left with no alternative, he grabbed her hand and disapparated.

They reappeared outside a seemingly empty lot, in a rather seedy-looking section of muggle London.

Her eyes widened once more in fear and anger as he pulled her forward by her hand. "Where are you taking me?" she demanded.

He turned back to her, his eyes softening when he realized how scared she was, probably of him. "12 Grimmauld Place," he whispered. She gasped as a house suddenly appeared before her very eyes where the empty lot had been a moment before.

"Come on," he said hastily. "Inside."

She shook her head defiantly. "I'm not going anywhere. I demand that you take me back right now!"

"Then I'm sorry," he whispered sadly. "_Stupefy."_

She didn't even have time to blink as a red stream of magic leapt from his palm and struck her square in the chest. He caught her before she hit the ground, and carried her gently into the house.

"SIRIUS!" he roared at the top of his lungs as he climbed the stairs. "We've got a problem!"

He kicked open the door of an empty bedroom and set her gingerly on the bed, propping her head up on a few pillows.

Running footsteps announced the approach of his godfather, and a moment later the older man was panting in the doorway.

"Sweet Merlin, what have you done?" he breathed.

"I didn't have a choice!" Harry said, annoyed. "She recognized me, and someone was coming. I panicked!"

"You could have memory charmed her!" Sirius retorted angrily.

"You think that didn't occur to me? Memory Charms can be broken by a powerful wizard, you know that!" Harry's eyes were flashing in anger. "Besides, I wasn't the one who decided that I had to go to Diagon Alley today to get money. No, in fact I wanted to wait until we got more make-up to hide my scar, but you insisted."

Sirius' shoulders slumped. Harry was right. If he hadn't been so insistent that Harry go, this wouldn't have happened.

"So what now?" he asked.

"I don't know," Harry said worriedly, glancing at the girl on the bed. "What can we do? If we let her go, she's bound to let it slip to someone, and if we memory charm her, it can be broken."

Sirius sighed in resignation. "She'll have to stay here, then."

"We can't make her stay here, Paddy! She probably has family she'll want to go back to!" Harry said indignantly, although the idea of her staying there with them wasn't all that unappealing....

Sirius grinned. "You like her don't you?"

"What?" Harry spluttered as his face reddened. "N-no, of course not. I just met her, how can I like her? Utterly ridiculous..." He realized he was starting to ramble and shut up immediately.

Sirius shrugged. "If you say so. You just seem to have a soft spot for her."

"Shut up, you," Harry muttered. "I don't think it's fair to keep her here, that's all."

"I know, I know, and I agree with you. But it's for her own good, you know. If Voldemort found out she saw you, he'd hunt her down to find out for sure. Beyond that, if he found out you're still alive, our plans would fall apart, and that would be disastrous for the entire world."

Harry sighed. "Alright, she stays. . . until it's safe at least." He glanced at his godfather. "You'd better let me tell her. I doubt she'll react very well to an escaped convicted murderer."

Sirius nodded thoughtfully. "You'd better wait to wake her up. We have to set some things up around the house so that she can't escape, as she'll undoubtedly attempt to do."

Harry stood apprehensively next to the bed on which the girl was still unconcious. A thousand questions ran through his head. Did she have a family that was worrying about her right now? What was her name? Where was she from?

He felt a rush of guilt as he realized that it was his fault that she was going to have to stay here, away from all those she loved. If he had just looked where he was going, she would probably be at home, enjoying dinner with her family.

He waved his hand and whispered, _"Ennervate," _then backed away nervously.

She stirred slightly and groaned, "Where am I?"

Though he wasn't quite sure she was expecting an answer, Harry replied, "You are in my godfather's house."

Startled, her head snapped over to look at him, and she leapt out of bed to back against the far wall. "You!"

"Easy," said Harry placatingly, raising his arms in a gesture of peace. "I just want to talk to you."

"There's nothing to talk about," she snapped, eyes wildly searching the room for an escape route. "You kidnapped me."

He winced. "True, and I _am_ really sorry about that, but it was necessary."

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

He shook his head. "Sorry, I can't answer that. You already know too much as it is."

She glared at him. "So what do you want?"

"Want?" he repeated, surprised. "I don't want anything."

"Then why are you keeping me here?"

He hung his head sadly. "Because you recognized me. Nobody can know that I'm in England, or even alive, for that matter. It's too dangerous."

"Look, just let me go," she pleaded. "I promise I won't tell anyone what I saw."

"I'm sorry. I can't risk it. You have to stay here, for the time being at least." She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. "That's final," he said firmly. "There's some dinner over there," He motioned to a tray of meat and potatoes on the nightstand, "If you're hungry."

Her only response was a glare, and he sighed. "Right then, I'll leave you to it." He turned to go, but paused. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me your name?"

Once more she just glared at him. "Didn't think so," he murmured, turning once more to leave.

When he reached the doorway, her voice stopped him. "Ginny. Ginny Weasley," she said.

He turned around, surprised. She had a strange expression on her face, something he couldn't quite identify.

"Very well then," he said. "I shall see you in the morning. I must ask that you don't leave this room. Good night. . . Ginny."

And with that, he closed the door softly, careful to lock it before heading to his own room for the night.

Later that night, Harry awoke to the sound of gentle sobbing from the room next to his. His heart nearly broke at the sound of it, and he resisted the urge to bang his head on the headboard of his bed in frustration.

He felt so helpless, and so guilty. Ginny was trapped here with them, and it was all his fault, yet there was nothing he could do about it.

She hadn't done anything to deserve this. It wasn't as if she had been trying to recognize him. It wasn't fair. She should be at home, with her parents and brothers or sisters, laughing and joking and enjoying her summer holiday.

Why? Why did this sort of thing have to happen?

It all came back to Voldemort. He was royally screwing up every aspect of Harry's life, and now her life as well. Soon he would come out of hiding and screw up the rest of the world, and it was all up to Harry to stop him.

Unbeknownst to Dumbledore, Harry's parents told Sirius all about the Prophecy that stated Harry was the one fated to kill or be killed by the Dark Lord, and consequently he had told Harry, though he had waited until Harry was 13 before doing so.

Harry shook that thought out of his mind the moment it appeared. Now was not the time to dwell on that. Their preparations were nearly in place. They had planned for too long to let anything stop them now. He had to remain focused on the objective.

Ginny's sobs had quieted, and Harry allowed himself to relax. He drifted off with the thought that tomorrow he would let her write to her family. Maybe that would cheer her up, if only just a little.

He knocked cautiously on Ginny's door the next morning, but received no answer. Frowning, he knocked again. Still there was no answer. He removed the magical locks from the door and eased it open, wondering what was going on.

She was there, sitting on the bed and staring out the window. Thinking, most likely, since the only thing visible through the window was the tiny backyard and a few horribly run-down houses.

"Hey," he whispered. It was more of a question than anything. She remained silent. He tried again. "Are you hungry?" She hadn't touched her dinner from the night before. Still she did not answer.

Starting to get frustrated with her lack of response, he growled out, "Fine, breakfast is in the kitchen if you change your mind."

He turned to leave, but she finally answered, "I thought I wasn't supposed to leave the room?" Her voice sounded hoarse. She still hadn't looked at him.

"Only at night," he answered quickly. "You can leave during the day."

She finally turned around, and he noticed her eyes were red and puffy. She had been crying again, then. The reality of her situation had probably sunk in.

She said nothing more, just stood up and watched him.

Taking that as acceptance of his invitation, he motioned for her to follow him and walked out of the room.

He glanced at her as they descended the stairs together. She was staring at her feet, silent.

She looked up suddenly, and her eyes met his. The sorrowful look there made him want to reassure her somehow, but he wasn't sure how he could. Reassurance from him probably wouldn't be welcome anyway.

She looked away when they reached the kitchen, and Harry sighed inwardly. This was not going to be easy.

They found Sirius with his back to them, humming as he tried to fry eggs.

"Sirius!" Harry cried, laughing. "What are you doing?"

Sirius turned around and held up the pan with the eggs, grimacing at the smell coming from them. Harry felt, rather than saw, Ginny shrink back slightly at the sight of the convicted murderer.

"I'm making breakfast," said his godfather defensively.

Harry put a hand to his forehead and massaged it wearily. "How many times have I told you, let _me _make breakfast? Every time you do it, I have to come back and re-do it anyway."

"Hey, you're not that great either," Sirius whined.

Harry snorted. "At least my cooking is edible."

"I resent that."

"You should."

Sirius, either deciding that Harry was right or that it was an argument he couldn't win, turned to Ginny, who took a step back as he noticed her.

"Up and about I see," he said lightly. "Feeling any better?"

She stared at him warily, saying nothing, and Harry shook his head almost imperceptibly at his godfather. Best to just leave her be for now.

Sirius got the message. Straightening, he said, "Right then, I'll get some dishes out. Harry if you'd just..." he motioned to the mess on the counter and stove.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'll clean up your mess and make us something we can actually eat."

"Excellent," his godfather replied brightly, as he set about gathering various things from the cupboards.

Harry grasped Ginny, who was still staring warily at Sirius, by the elbow, and led her to an empty chair at the rough wooden kitchen table.

"Just wait here a moment, and I'll get you something," he whispered.

Soon the table was loaded with strips of crispy bacon, fried eggs, fried sausages, and slices of toast.

Harry and Sirius dug in with much gusto, and Ginny, whose hunger seemed to have finally caught up with her, ate nearly as well as they did, though much slower.

When they were all finished, Sirius leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach happily. "Good stuff, Harry."

Harry eyed his godfather's stomach. "Not that you needed it, of course."

Sirius punched his arm, slightly harder than necessary. Harry glared at him and rubbed his bicep. "Hey! Not so hard!"

"Don't be such a pansy, Harry," said Sirius with a cheeky smile.

Harry just glared at him, muttering to himself. He decided to ignore his godfather and instead turned to Ginny, putting on what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

"Would you like to go into town today?" he asked.

She blinked. "What?"

"I said, 'would you like to go into town today?'" He repeated more slowly. "You're going to need some clothes and things while you are here. I thought we could get that taken care of."

"Um. . .Okay," she said uncertainly.

"Excellent," said Harry, beaming. "We'll go this afternoon. In the meantime, you're welcome to write a letter to anyone you wish. My Phoenix will carry it for you. The only things I ask are that you not mention where you are or who you are with."

"I can write my family a letter?" she asked incredulously.

Sirius laughed. "Of course you can. Regardless of what you might think, we are not evil kidnappers. We are only keeping you here for your safety, as well as our own."

She stared at him, obviously disbelieving him, but equally as obviously wary of arguing with an escaped murderer.

Harry chuckled. "Come on, I'll get you a quill and some parchment."

He took her upstairs and into the library. He motioned to a desk with various writing materials strewn across it, and then he opened one of the exceedingly large windows in the room and went about gathering a few books from the shelves while she sat down.

The sound of her scribbling quill was the only thing he heard for a while, until it suddenly stopped. He glanced up from his book in surprise, only to find her seemingly struggling to hold back tears.

He approached her cautiously, wondering what he should do. He wasn't exactly her friend. Should he try and comfort her somehow?

He settled for laying a hand on her shoulder and saying softly, "Hey. It'll be alright, you know."

She flinched away from his touch. "What would you know about it?" she shouted angrily.

His eyes turned diamond hard, as he unflinchingly met her angry gaze. "You forget, Miss Weasley, that I lost my parents when I was only a year old. The only person I have left in the world is Sirius. I know exactly what it is like to long for family."

He whirled and strode quickly towards the door. He paused in the doorway, and added coldly, "Frost will be along shortly to collect your letter. As I'm sure you won't want me to read it, he'll check it over to ensure you haven't revealed anything you shouldn't have. I warn you, he is extraordinarily smart, even for a phoenix. You will not be able to fool him."

And with that, he headed for his room, robes billowing behind him.

When he was safely inside, his body began to change shape. Within seconds, a magnificent blue and white phoenix stood where Harry had been only a moment before.

Feeling slightly guilty about the deception, Harry flew back to the library and landed lightly on the desk in front of Ginny.

She stared at him in awe and reached up to stroke his head softly. "You're beautiful," she pronounced quietly.

Harry trilled softly in response, and she giggled. "Are you here to read my letter, then?"

He dipped his head, and she said, "Alright, I'm finished. Go ahead and read it."

He glided to her shoulder and rested there to read what she had written.

**Dear Mum, Dad, Bill, Charlie, Percy (I hope), Fred, George and Ron,**

He glanced at her in surprise. That was an awful lot of family. She grinned in response. "Harry was right, you _are _very smart. And yes, those are all my brothers."

**I'm sorry for worrying all of you. I want you to know that I am alright.**

**I have been kidnapped by a couple of Death Eaters, whose names I am not allowed to mention, of course. As of yet, I have not been harmed, and for some strange reason, I don't think I shall be either.**

**They say that I'm only being held because I saw something that could endanger my life, and I'll be released as soon as it's safe. I'm not sure whether I believe that or not.**

Harry stared at the last few lines for a moment. She thought he was a Death Eater?

'Of course she does you git,' his inner voice said exasperatedly. 'You're on quite obviously friendly terms with Sirius Black, whom everyone thinks is a Death Eater, and you kidnapped her. Why _wouldn't_ she think you're one as well?'

**I don't know when or if I'll be able to come home, but I promise I'll keep you all informed. They have allowed me to write this letter, and I think they'll let me write more.**

**Remember that I love you all, and I hope we'll see each other again soon.**

**Love,**

**Ginny**

He trilled to let her know he was finished, and then stared at her as she put it in an envelope and started writing an address on that.

He couldn't imagine how hard it must be for her to be torn from her family, with no real idea of whether or not she would ever see them again. At least he hadn't had to deal with the uncertainty of not knowing.

She didn't believe them when they told her they'd let her go as soon as they could. He couldn't exactly blame her though. She had been kidnapped and was now being held prisoner by people she thought were supporters of Voldemort.

He had to convince her somehow that she'd be able to go home eventually, but how? She would have to trust him, and it was unlikely she would do so.

He shook his head to clear it. No time to think about that now. He had to deliver her letter. She held it out to him and he clamped it firmly in his beak.

She stared at him for a moment, before realization hit her. "Oh, I'm sorry. You need to know where to go, don't you?"

He gave her an exasperated look, and she blushed. "My house is near Ottery St. Catchpole," she said. "It's called the Burrow, and it's a little lopsided. Look for a bunch of redheads. Can you find it?"

He trilled in response, though it sounded a little muffled since his beak was full, and flew out the window he'd opened earlier.

Soon he was gliding happily above above the clouds, with the bright sun beating down on his back. Phoenixes have a nearly unique ability to disappear and then reappear elsewhere, similar to wizarding apparation. Harry, however, did not use that particular mode of travel that day, electing instead to enjoy the feeling of freedom that came from soaring effortlessly hundreds of feet in the air.

All too soon, he had reached the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, and was circling the area looking for the house Ginny mentioned. She hadn't mentioned in which direction it lay, but that mattered little to a phoenix. Highly attuned to magic of all kinds, they were able to sense when it was nearby, and Harry soon located the Burrow, which was a veritable hotspot of magical activity.

Her description of the house, while brief, was fairly accurate. It was indeed quite lopsided, and appeared to be held up only by several charms.

Harry flew to the kitchen window and peered in. There appeared to be eight people in the kitchen - six males and one female, all with bright red hair, and an elderly man with silver hair and beard that both reached down past his waist. This was definitely the place.

He took the opportunity to observe them for a moment, unnoticed. The female, a woman whom Harry took to be Ginny's mother, was crying on the shoulder of the oldest looking redheaded man - most likely Ginny's father.

The rest of the redheads appeared to be in various emotional states ranging from shock, to grief, to anger. Two of them appeared to be slightly older, most likely already out of Hogwarts. Then there were identical twins, probably 17 or 18, and lastly the youngest (yet somehow also the tallest) that was probably around Harry's own age.

No one had seen him so, beak full, Harry gripped the window ledge with one claw and raised the other to rap on the glass.

Within seconds, the redhead with the long hair pulled into a ponytail had opened the window, and Harry flew straight for the ones he assumed were Ginny's parents, dropping the letter on the table in front of them and alighting on the back of an empty chair.

Everyone stared at him in shock for a moment, except for Ginny's mother, who was staring at the envelope on the table.

"It's from Ginny!" she cried, trying to tear the envelope open, but having a difficult time of it because her fingers were trembling uncontrollably.

Everyone's eyes immediately snapped to her, and several of them cried at the same time, "What?!"

Mr. Weasley, seeing that his wife was unable to open the letter on her own, gently pried it from her trembling hands and slit it open with his forefinger. When he had it out, he read the contents aloud to everyone.

By the time he had finished, everyone was talking at once; arguing about whether or not the letter was actually from Ginny, about whether she really was unhurt, and about where she could possibly be.

A powerful voice suddenly rang out above all the rest. "Silence!" it cried.

Harry looked in surprise at the silvery-haired wizard, who had apparently been the one to speak. Then it hit him. The half-moon glasses, the twinkling bright blue eyes, the crooked nose.

Oh. Bloody. Hell.

It was Albus Dumbledore, the famed headmaster of Hogwarts, and the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared. _Not _the person Harry wanted to see when he was trying to keep his identity, and indeed, the fact that he was even alive, a secret. If he found out Harry was actually an animagus and not a real phoenix. . .

He shook himself mentally. Try not to think of that. Focus on the matter at hand, he couldn't flee now - it'd look too suspicious. Best to play it cool and hope the old man didn't figure him out.

Everyone had been quieted by the commanding tone of the aging headmaster's voice. Amazing, really.

Dumbledore spoke again, "Thank you. Now, Molly, Arthur, is that your daughter's handwriting?"

Ginny's parents nodded numbly, apparently unable to speak.

Dumbledore sighed sadly. "Then for now, we must assume that is indeed from her. Hopefully, what she wrote is the truth, though we cannot dismiss the possibility that she was forced to write it that way.

"I believe we can call off the searches in and around Diagon Alley now, as it seems clear that she has been taken, and it is unlikely the kidnappers would have stayed near such a populated area."

"Is there nothing you can do, Albus?" Molly suddenly asked. "Some spell or something. . .anything?"

"I am afraid not, Molly," said Dumbledore with a sad shake of his head. "I have tried every tracking and locating spell that I know of, and none of them have had any effect whatsoever. Whoever took her is either very powerful, or very smart, perhaps even both. This is very troubling, since the only wizard I know of that is powerful enough to fit that description is Voldemort."

Everyone in the room but Harry and Dumbledore flinched when he said the Dark Lord's name, and Harry had to resist the urge to roll his eyes in exasperation. Wizards were such cowards when it came to Voldemort. He focused once more on Dumbledore when the old man started speaking again.

"As you all know, I have been trying for the last year to convince the Ministry that Voldemort has risen again, ever since a. . .friend of mine was summoned by the Dark Lord. I have had little success, and I doubt I shall have any until he comes out into the open and starts attacking. I am afraid it is possible that he is the one behind the kidnapping of young Miss Weasley, though it is strange that she only mentions Death Eaters in her letter, and not Lord Voldemort himself."

His eyes came to rest on Harry as he continued, "Also strange, besides the fact that they apparently let her write a letter at all, is their use of a phoenix to deliver it."

Everyone was looking at Harry now, and he suddenly felt very uncomfortable, though he tried hard not to show it.

"Sir," the Weasley boy with the tanned skin and burns all over said, "Aren't phoenixes supposed to be Light creatures?"

Dumbledore took his half-moon glasses off and wiped them off on his midnight-blue robes before replying, "That is a common misconception. The fact is that most phoenixes are Light creatures, except for two extremely rare breeds, distinguished by the color of their feathers. Black phoenixes are actually Dark creatures, and Blue phoenixes, such as this one, can be either Light or Dark."

"So do you think this one is Dark?" asked Arthur anxiously.

Dumbledore's brows were furrowed in thought. "I cannot be sure," he said slowly. "I do, however, think that there is more to this phoenix than meets the eye."

He stared shrewdly at Harry, and for a moment, the young man was afraid Dumbledore had discovered his secret. The moment passed, however, and Harry sighed inwardly in relief when the headmaster looked away.

"Isn't there _anything _we can do to find Ginny, Professor?" burst out the youngest redhead suddenly. He looked as though he was taking his sister's disappearance the hardest of all of them (excepting his mum, of course), though he was obviously trying not to show it.

"I'm afraid there is little we can do, Ronald," said Dumbledore sadly. "We will, of course, continue to investigate this matter, and I have no doubt the Ministry will search for her as well, but beyond that, it seems we are doomed to wait. In the meantime, I suggest you all write some letters back to young Miss Weasley, as it seems our messenger here is waiting for you to do so before he leaves. Remember, by the way, that right now he is your only link to her. It would not be wise to try to capture him or cast any sort of spell on him."

Each of the Weasley brothers wrote their sister a letter, and their parents wrote one for her together. They each tied their own to Harry's leg, and soon he was flying swiftly back to Grimmauld Place, his mind a whirlpool of thoughts and emotions.

* * *

AN

Like it? Love it? Hate it? Review! but be gentle....

OK, so it wasn't really an accident that he kidnapped her. It was an accident that he was forced to kidnap her. ;)

Congrats to all who got the Stockholm Syndrome question correctly. The first person (on any site) to get it was David A. Brown

his review is a good explanation, that I'll quote here for those that want to know what it means:

**Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological term. It refers to the relationship that sometimes develops between a kidnapper and his or her prisoner. From yahoo, "Stockholm Syndrome describes the behavior of kidnap victims who, over time, become sympathetic to their captors. The name derives from a 1973 hostage incident in Stockholm, Sweden. At the end of six days of captivity in a bank, several kidnap victims actually resisted rescue attempts, and afterwards refused to testify against their captors."**

Remember Patty Hearst? Kidnapped by the SLA, and eventually joined them. That's Stockholm Syndrome.

review responses:

**pudadingding: **You know, I brought that subject (dialogue) up with both my beta and JC-S, and both of them seem to like the way I do it. I'm more inclined to agree with you, though. I'll certainly try to keep a good balance between the two.

**NENI POTTER: **Did you know you had your caps lock on? lol. Hope this chapter answers your question.

**Panda Slippers: **done

**Anonymous: **Just because I named it that doesn't mean that I'll actually make someone have it. They might just think they do, or other people think they do ;)

**Brown Eyed Faerie: **more like she'll fall for him o.0

**Loony Moony: **He's not going to Hogwarts. Everyone would wonder where he's been and they wouldn't let him go back to Sirius during the summer.

**David A. Brown: **You got it. Congrats on being the first to do so.


	3. Shopping, Escape, and Rescue

AN  
thanks for all your wonderful reviews! I am overjoyed by all your support.

I'm going to make this explanation short. I'm going to Florida for one month (leaving Sunday) to work for a friend of my dad's. During that time, I will be unable to access the internet. On the bright side, I will be using my sister's laptop to type up several chapters while I'm gone, so expect some quick updates the minute I get back March 2nd. I hope you all leave lots of wonderful reviews for me to read when I get back!

On a more chapter related note, I hope you like this one too. I made some assumptions regarding Oxford Street, having never been there myself. Hope it's not a problem.

thanks once more to my wonderful co-writer (who does no actual writing but a lot of thinking) JC-S, and my stupendous beta, Yavinbase.

Disclaimer: see prologue

* * *

Chapter 2

Shopping, Escape, and Rescue

Harry ended up flying all the way back to Grimmauld place, wanting some time to process what he had just witnessed. It had certainly done nothing for his conscience to know that there were that many people who obviously loved Ginny and were worried about her. They had no reliable way of knowing whether or not she was actually alright, and he could not imagine what that would be like.

Then there was the encounter with Albus Dumbledore. Did he suspect something? He certainly gave off the impression of knowing considerably more than he let on.

His presence at Ginny's home was not something Harry had counted on. For the famed Headmaster of Hogwarts to take a personal interest in this kidnapping was a bad sign. It meant that Dumbledore was close to her family in some way, and probably would do everything in his power to ensure that she was returned safely to them.

They would have to tread carefully from now on. Having the Ministry _and _the Order of the Phoenix looking for you was most definitely not something to laugh at. The wards and spells he and Sirius had cast were clever and powerful, yes, but not infallible.

Harry winced mentally. Sirius was not going to like this latest development. Escaping Dumbledore when Harry was younger was hard enough. Having to run all over the globe to escape him once more was not something they needed right now.

He arrived back at number 12, only to find the library window closed and locked tightly, something it only would have done if Ginny had approached it. He shook his head amusedly, knowing that she would undoubtedly try a much more thought-out escape attempt soon. She was scared and alone certainly, but she also seemed to be quite the fiery tempered person her hair suggested. A few locks and wards were hardly going to keep her anywhere.

Harry had purposely neglected to tell her what would happen if she approached any possible exit in the house, certain that she would try anyway, and firsthand experience was far more convincing than any warning, in this case.

He used his ability as a phoenix to "apparate" inside, and flew off down the hall, looking for her.

Evidently, she had gone exploring during his absence. He found her down in one of the spare bedrooms, poking through the closet. Rude, ordinarily, but since she was a kidnap victim in her captor's house, she probably didn't care if they thought she was rude.

He trilled from the foot of the ancient bed, and she jerked up, striking her head on the shelf she'd been peeking under. He laughed, which sounded rather strange as he was still a phoenix, and she glared at him.

Her glare dropped, however, when she spotted the letters tied to his leg, and she nearly tripped over herself in her eagerness to get to them. Fingers trembling in anticipation, it took her several minutes to get all of them untied, but she eventually managed it.

He decided to let her read them in private, and flew off to his room to transform. Remembering that she thought he'd been in the house the whole time he was actually gone, he changed into some muggle clothes and waited an hour or so before going to see if she was ready to go shopping.

He found her sprawled on the bed in her room, reading her letters (probably for the third or fourth time). The door was open, but he knocked politely on the doorframe anyway.

When she looked up at him expectantly, he asked, "So, um, you about ready to go?" Seeing her confused look, he added, "Shopping. We were going to get you some necessities; clothes, that sort of thing."

"Oh," she stared at him for a moment. "Okay."

She crawled off the bed and stood before him, and he waved his hand, transfiguring her patched and faded hand-me-down wizarding robes into a simple muggle t-shirt and jeans. Not a permanent solution, but enough to allow them to get out without attracting unnecessary attention from the muggles. A second wave of his hand changed her hair from red to brown, and darkened her skin just a little, so that she looked to have a slight tan.

"Sorry about that," he said, "But we don't want anyone to recognize you if they happen to be out in muggle London."

He knew as soon as he said it that it was not the right thing to say. She looked down at her feet sadly, and he inwardly cursed himself for his stupidity.

Not knowing what else to do, he said awkwardly, "Well, um, ok, follow me then."

They headed down the hall towards Sirius' room. He noticed that she kept glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, as though she wanted to say something, but was unsure of doing so.

"How do you do that?" she finally blurted out.

He stopped in surprise, turning to face her. "Do what?" he asked.

"Magic. Without a wand. How do you do it?"

"Oh, that." He thought about it for a moment. "It's a matter of will really. Wands aren't necessary, they're just easier. It takes a lot of focus and concentration to do magic without it. I can only do so because I've been training to do so since I was eight."

"Oh," she responded, amazed. "So do you not need a wand?"

He made a see-sawing motion with his hands. "Not really, but if I have to do magic for long periods of time, I get tired without one, so I always carry mine just in case."

"That's amazing," said Ginny. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"You'd be surprised what you can find in an old book," he replied with a grin. "Now come on. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. We're having lunch in town so we need to get a move on."

They entered through the open doorway of Sirius' room, to find him scribbling furiously at his desk. He looked up when they came in and smiled broadly. "Eager to leave?" he asked. "Go right on ahead. Harry, I put the make-up in your room. You covered up your scar, and you have money right?" at Harry's nod he continued, "Right, have fun then. Be back by dinner."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Meaning you don't want to have to fend for yourself."

"Of course," replied Sirius, as though that should be obvious.

Harry passed a hand over his eyes in exasperation. "You know," he said pointedly to his godfather. "I'm supposed to be the immature teenager in our relationship. Not you."

"Hey, I resent that," Sirius replied indignantly, "I happen to be quite mature and responsible."

"Sure you are," said Harry absently, as he waved Ginny out of the room and followed her out.

"You cheeky little-" Sirius started, but whatever else Harry was they didn't hear, for he had shut the door before his godfather could finish.

He led Ginny down the stairs towards the front door, explaining what they would do as they went.

"You can buy pretty much whatever you want," he was saying, "Money is no object. It's the least we can do after kidnapping you."

A vague 'hmmm' was all the more reply he got, but he continued anyway, "I'm going to have to ask that you don't try to run off. Muggle London is a dangerous place for a witch without a wand, particularly one who doesn't know all that much about muggles in the first place."

"If you gave me my wand back that wouldn't be a problem," she said hopefully.

"Sorry," he said with a sad shake of his head, "No can do. You'd escape in no time. Hell, if you even cast one spell, the Ministry would be down on our heads."

"Exactly," she muttered. She suddenly came to a halt, causing him to walk several steps ahead before backtracking to her.

She was standing in front of the hall mirror, examining her brand new appearance. He came to stand behind her and said sadly, "I know, I know, it's a shame to change it. But don't worry, we'll change it back to red the moment we return."

She looked at him strangely, as though he had just told her the sky was green. "What are you talking about? My hair always looks horrible. Red hair is a curse."

Now it was his turn to look at her as though _she_ was crazy. "I don't understand. I think it looks beautiful when it's red. Why would you think it was a curse?"

She blushed, and he couldn't help noticing that she looked rather cute when she did so. She said nothing more, and they continued out of the house in silence.

Once outside, she glanced around and asked, "So where are we going?"

"Oxford Street," he replied. If she recognized the name, she made no sign of it.

They were walking around the back of the house, and she suddenly asked, "How are we getting there?"

"Apparition."

Once out of sight of the street in front of the house, he turned around and gently grasped her hand. There was a small _pop_, and a gentle pushing sensation, as of a large mattress behind their backs, and they suddenly found themselves in a small alley in between two large buildings. They stepped out onto the busy sidewalk near the alley's entrance.

She looked around in something akin to awe at all the muggles and their various vehicles, stores, and clothes, while he watched her in amusement.

"This is Oxford Street?" she asked in amazement.

He chuckled brightly. "No, Oxford Street is far too busy to apparate anywhere near. We're several streets over."

"Busier than this?" she asked incredulously, staring at the crowd moving past them.

Following the direction of her gaze, he had to remind himself she wasn't used to muggles. He had grown up almost completely integrated into the muggle world (since they had to hide from the wizarding one), while she had spent her life flooing to Diagon Alley and shopping in the small village of Ottery St. Catchpole.

The street was busy, certainly, but not as busy as all that. Just wait until she got to see Oxford Street.

"Yes," he answered amusedly. Grasping her gently by the elbow, he guided her quickly and skillfully through the throngs of pedestrians.

It took them several minutes to reach Oxford Street, as the crowds became considerably thicker the farther they walked, and Harry had to keep a tight hold on Ginny's arm to keep them from getting separated.

Finally, they reached their destination, and Harry watched her gasp in awe and amazement. Throngs of pedestrians clogged the entire area, entering and exiting the dozens of shops that lined the street - with large signs declaring their names and sometimes their merchandise.

"Amazing, isn't it?" he muttered into her ear.

"Yeah," she breathed. "It sure is. Muggles are incredible."

He chuckled, and they headed off to find somewhere to have lunch before beginning their shopping spree.

They found a small cafe down a side street that made excellent sandwiches, and sat down to eat.

Once they were finished, he decided to try and make a conversation. "Hey," he said to grab her attention. She looked up expectantly, so he took a deep breath and continued, "Look, I know this is hard on you. Hell, I'm not exactly enjoying it either, but I want you to know that we're going to let you go as soon as we possibly can. I know you have no reason to trust me, but . . ." he trailed off, looking out the window a few tables away. He looked back at her. "I promise I'll get you home."

He stared straight into her beautiful, wide brown eyes, silently willing her to believe him, to trust him. She met his gaze for a moment, and then began to tremble and cast her eyes downward. He sighed sadly, and his head sank into his hands.

"Who are you?"

Her voice, confused and questioning, cut through his thoughts and dragged him back to the present. His head came out of his hands and he looked back up at her. Her gaze was fixed upon his face, her eyes looking as though they were trying to see right through him.

"I don't understand," he replied.

She waved her hand at him. "I don't understand _you._ You kidnap me, yet you act as though you don't want to. You say what I know is dangerous, yet I don't know who I'm not supposed to tell, or what harm could come from telling. Who are you, really? And what side are you on?"

"I am on no one's side." His voice was distant, emotionless. "I have my _own_ agenda."

"Are you a Death Eater?"

"I should think not," he said disgustedly. "Serve the man who murdered my parents and-" He stopped himself, not wanting to think about _that._

Fortunately, she didn't seem to notice his near-slip. She said confusedly, "But Black-"

"Was . . . _Is_ innocent," he interrupted firmly. "He's no more a supporter of Voldemort than Dumbledore himself."

She flinched at his mention of the Dark Lord's name, and cried, "You said his name!"

He rolled his eyes exasperatedly. Wizards and their permanently ingrained fear of the man's name.

"Yes, I did. I've met him, and frankly I don't see why everyone's scared of his name. Not like he can hear you say it or anything."

She was openly gaping at him now. "You've _met _him?"

"Indeed," he replied dryly. "On more than one occasion, I might add. I believe you are familiar with the first?" She nodded weakly, and he went on, "Of course, we weren't so much _meeting _as _dueling_. He still hasn't managed to accomplish his goal of killing me, as you can see. Incompetent. Though, I suppose I haven't exactly managed to finish him off either."

She was still staring at him in amazement, and he sighed. "Come now, who did you think we didn't want to know I was alive? The last time I met him he thought he killed me. He's the one that can't know I'm still around."

"Why don't you go to Dumbledore?" she asked. "He can help you. The Order can help you. You don't have to hide from everyone."

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you think they'd believe my story about Sirius?" He didn't even wait for her to speak, instead answering his own question, "No. Of course not. They'd treat me like some little child. Probably think I'd gotten Stockholm Syndrome or something."

"Gotten what?"

He waved his hand vaguely. "Muggle term. Stockholm Syndrome is supposedly something that occasionally happens to kidnap victims. They sympathize with their captors. Most likely, that's exactly what Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix will think happened to me."

"Oh."

He waved their waitress over and asked for the check. "Come on," he said to Ginny, after he'd paid. "Let's get going. We've got a lot to buy."

They spent the next few hours going from shop to shop, buying most anything that took her fancy.

Harry could tell that she'd never been able to just go into a store and buy things, so he made certain that at each place they visited, a saleslady followed her around and had her try on dozens of things.

The whole affair was rather boring for him overall. He spent most of his time in a chair near the dressing rooms of whichever store they were in, waiting for her to emerge in the next outfit. Of course, he rather enjoyed her modeling them for him - something that the salesladies at each and every place had her do.

Ginny was quite obviously shy about that whole part, and Harry made sure to tell her how wonderful she looked in this or that each time she emerged. He had hoped it'd put her at ease, but no such luck - She blushed brightly every time and refused to look him in the eye.

The fact that every saleslady seemed to assume that they were a couple didn't help her embarrassment in the slightest.

Eventually, they finished with their clothes shopping. It was starting to darken outside, and Harry knew they'd best be getting back, or Sirius would start worrying about him.

Pockets stuffed with discreetly shrunk shopping bags, they started walking back to their apparition point. They were nearly there when Harry collided with a man running at top speed in the other direction. Harry, losing his grip on Ginny's arm, was knocked flat, while the man just stumbled and kept on running.

Scrambling to his feet and dusting himself off, Harry yelled, "HEY! Watch it you-" He trailed off, glancing around him in concern. Where was Ginny?

He spotted her down the street, fully one hundred yards away and running flat out away from him. He swore violently and took off after her. He tried to fight his way through the crowd, but there were simply too many people. He soon had lost sight of her.

Damn it, that girl was smart. She waited until he started to relax his guard before trying anything. His little collision had provided the perfect opportunity and she took it.

The only problem was she was a witch stranded without money or wand in the middle of muggle London. He had to find her quickly, for both hers and his own sake. Unfortunately, with all the spells he and his godfather had placed on her when she first arrived, there wasn't a tracking spell on the planet that could locate her. Of course, that was one of the main problems with wizards - they tended to forget to think outside the box.

Harry was different, though. Having grown up mostly in the muggle world, he knew a little more about choosing the unorthodox approach. So, while she had been trying on her clothes, he had simply placed a locator spell on her shoes. Now he would know which general direction she was at all times. It would only last 12 hours, but that was long enough.

He hoped so, anyway.

He continued pushing his way through the crowd, and eventually it thinned out enough for him to move freely. He set out in the direction he could sense her presence, walking as quickly as possible without actually running.

The sky continued to darken. Eventually, the sun set, and the only light he had came from the streetlamps. He continued on doggedly, hoping against hope she was close by.

After what seemed like hours, he entered a more run-down area of the city. Most of the streetlamps were broken or burnt out, and there were a few dark figures lounging around, eyeing him calculatingly.

He heard a scream up ahead, and broke out into a run. Definitely a girl.

He found her down a filthy alley. She was backed up into a corner, five teenage guys surrounding her, leering at her.

Damn. He'd have to fight this one out. The training he'd undergone since the age of 5 kicked in. Muggles. He'd have to take them out without magic.

Without another thought, he ran forward and threw himself at the nearest one, taking him to the ground. It had exactly the desired effect. The one he'd tackled knocked his head on the pavement and fell unconscious, while the other four turned their attention from Ginny to Harry.

Harry stood up and faced the others, his hands clenched at his sides. "Leave. Her. ALONE," he hissed.

They laughed at him. Two brought out knives, and one of them taunted, "What you gonna do about it?"

Seeing that they weren't going to back down to just one man, Harry leapt at the nearest knife-wielder and grasped the hand with the weapon. He wrenched it powerfully in the wrong direction, making the kid drop his weapon and cry out in pain. Then he threw him straight into the other armed idiot - knocking them both to the pavement - and picked the knife off the ground.

In a typical show of stupidity, the other two rushed at him without thinking, and Harry threw the knife at the nearer one. It hit him in the shoulder, and he went down bleeding. The other one threw a punch at him, but Harry neatly side stepped it and drove his elbow into his stomach. He bent over, wheezing pitifully, and Harry slammed his elbow on the back of his head, sending him too, to the ground.

By this time, the two he had sent crashing into each other and the one he'd originally tackled were all once more on their feet, staring at him warily. The one with the knife finally rushed him, stabbing downwards towards Harry's chest.

Making an 'X' shape with his forearms, Harry caught his attacker's wrist and swung it around in a circle and behind the man's back, sending the weapon flying and holding him in a bent at the waist position. He swung his leg up and over the man's head and drove straight downwards with his heel. For the second time, he went to the ground, but this time he stayed that way.

The other two took one look at Harry and left running, their bleeding companion following as quickly as he was able.

Seeing that the two on the ground weren't likely to be getting up for a while, Harry rushed straight for where Ginny was sitting against a wall.

She was shaking like a leaf, and when he knelt by her side she flung herself into the arms of the only familiar face in that alley - his.

Originally having intended to reprimand her for running off into London with no knowledge of the muggle world whatsoever, he instead wrapped his arms around her and held her close. She was sobbing softly onto his shoulder, while he was rubbing her back soothingly and whispering comforting words into her ear.

Sweet Merlin, what had they said to her to get her this worked up?

After several minutes, her sobs died down to sniffles. He pulled back just slightly to peer at her face. "Running off like that," he said with a rueful smile, "You've certainly got guts. Come on, I'll take you back to the house."

She kept her head hung low as he gently raised her to her feet. A soft _pop_ later, they were back in number 12's kitchen.

* * *

AN

there it is. PLEASE REVIEW! I want to know your thoughts.

I want to extend a very warm thank you to all my reviewers. If I have something specific to say to you, you'll find your name in the review responses below.

**Kail Ceannai:** Indeed it was, and he feels guilty for that, but: 1) no one's supposed to know he's an animagus. 2) he didn't think she'd trust him with her mail if she knew it was really him.

**smidge:** I won't give it up, I promise. At least, not voluntarily. It's just not in me to willingly leave my precious story.

**loudnproud223:** A little. I make mostly breakfast stuff (my pancakes need work), spaghetti, hamburgers, and......tuna fish sandwhiches. I am so gonna eat pizza for the rest of my life if I don't find myself a wife.

**csferosha: **We'll find out a little more about his past through flashbacks and some talking with Ginny, most likely. Not til a bit later though. Hope this new chapter answers some of your questions about Wandless Magic. The brother wand thing is for later.

**gallandro:** All will be revealed in time. Hope this chapter answers some of your questions (minusing the Legilimency and Occlumency parts, which will be for later)

**Looony Moony: **Wouldn't you hate the person who kidnapped your daughter/sister? Harry's too nice a guy for them to hate him forever though.


	4. Safety

AN

Well, I'm back. My trip was boring, and I had only ONE FRICKIN HOUR A DAY to do some writing, and that so late at night that I drove myself to exhaustion. Why? Because my father's a bloody lunatic, that's why. Needless to say, I didn't get much done. I did promise you guys lots of chapters though, so I'm gonna write like a madman for the next week to make up for it. Right after I shake off this stupid jetlag of course.

full details of my trip are available if you want to email me for them. In fact, you can all email me for whatever reason. I like emailing my reviewers. You can find my address in my author profile.

thanks once more to JC-S, and to my wonderful beta Yavinbase. Both of them are completely awesome.

disclaimer: see prologue

* * *

Chapter 3

Safety

When they arrived, Sirius was sitting at the kitchen table, his face a curious mixture of worry, relief, and anger.

"Where have you been?" he shouted. "I've been waiting here for two hours! I was about to go looking for you!"

Ginny, still shaken from the events of the evening, shrunk back from his furious countenance. Unconsciously, she moved behind Harry for protection.

"She got away," Harry replied shortly. "She managed to get lost in a nasty neighborhood, and was cornered by a bunch of teenagers."

Sirius' angry expression gave way to one of concern. "Are you alright?" he asked Ginny kindly.

She stayed behind Harry, watching him warily, and making no answer. Harry answered for her, "I think she's okay, just a little shaken up. I'm going to take her to her room and let her lie down for a while. I'll be back down to talk to you later."

Sirius nodded, and Harry gently led her from the room by the hand. His godfather's voice stopped them at the door. "So you got away from him, then?"

Ginny turned to look at him, and nodded slowly, apprehensively, perhaps expecting some sort of punishment, or at least some shouting.

Sirius just shook his head ruefully, and laughed. "Unbelievable." He grinned widely at his godson, and joked, "Slacking off? Distracted by our pretty guest no doubt."

Both of the teens blushed furiously and left the room in a hurry. Sirius' gleeful cackles followed them all the way upstairs.

Harry led the way up the stairs, cursing his godfather inwardly. He avoided meeting Ginny's eyes until they reached the room set aside for her.

Entering, he finally looked up at her, to find her watching him with an expression he couldn't quite identify on her face. When she saw him look at her, she blushed and looked away.

"Well," he started, a little flustered. "You can just rest for a while, I'm sure you're tired. It's been a long day, and you walked a long way at a very fast pace."

She did indeed look very tired, her eyes drooping dangerously low. She sat slowly down on the edge of the bed, nodding gratefully. He turned to leave, but her hand on his arm and voice in his ear stopped him. "Wait," she said.

He turned back expectantly. She looked uncertain for some reason. She was biting her lower lip nervously. "He's not angry with me," she said. She sounded confused.

"No," Harry agreed, "He's not."

"And you're not either," it was half a question.

"No, I'm not," he answered. He chuckled lightly, shaking his head again in amazement. "We fully expected you to try to escape. In fact, I daresay we should have been disappointed if you hadn't. We just didn't expect you to actually _succeed._" His tone turned a little more stern and accusatory. "I did warn you about the muggle world, though. You were lucky tonight."

She hung her head a moment, and then looked back up at him in wonder and a little bit of awe. "That was amazing, I've never seen anything like it. You saved my life, you know."

He blushed a little bit, muttering that it was nothing.

"No, it wasn't," she insisted.

He shrugged embarrassedly, and mumbled, "Perhaps." Before turning to go, he said, "I'll bring some dinner up later if you'd like."

He paused, waiting for an answer. She shrugged and said, "Sure."

Satisfied, he turned to leave, but her voice stopped him once more. "Harry?"

He paused, startled, and faced her. She had never called him by his first name, or any name for that matter, before.

"Thank you," she whispered, blushing.

Thrown slightly by this, he simply said, "Any time," and left.

Walking down the hallway to go talk to Sirius, Harry reflected on the conversation soon to come. There was much to talk about. This could take a while.

* * *

Sirius was still in the kitchen, waiting for him. He looked as though he wasn't sure whether to be angry or amused. He apparently settled for finding out the whole story, though, for he asked Harry to tell him what had happened.

Briefly, Harry outlined their day, starting from when they had left the house. Sirius listened carefully, not interrupting once.

When the story was told, Sirius asked, "Why the hell didn't you contact me when she first got away?"

Without batting an eye, Harry replied, "Because I had to keep close to her to ensure the accuracy of the tracking spell, because I wanted to find her as soon as possible, and because it's dangerous for you to leave the house; especially for things I can take care of on my own."

Sirius glared at him, and a silent battle of wills ensued. Glares were traded for some time, before Sirius finally conceded the point and moved on.

"You do realize you messed up the apparition wards on the house by apparating directly inside the kitchen, don't you?" he asked.

Harry smiled embarrassedly. "Oops?" he tried hopelessly. A glare was all that he got for his trouble, and he sighed repentantly. "Sorry. I got a little caught up in trying to get her back here safely and forgot to apparate outside."

Sirius shook his head exasperatedly. "I'll never understand how you do that anyway. Any other wizard in the world wouldn't have been able to apparate here, but you just blast right through the wards."

Harry frowned. "That's not exactly how it works," he said. "It would take an exceptionally powerful wizard to just blast through them; something I am not. I have power, but not on the scale of Voldemort or even Dumbledore. It's not so much that I blast right through them as I undermine them and slip through the cracks." He grinned cheekily. "It's a matter of skill."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I highly doubt that," he said, "But regardless of how it happened, it means we have to recast the wards tonight. She's really making you slip; do you know that? First she gets away, then you forget about the wards in your hurry to get her back here. You gotta pull yourself together!"

Harry blushed; muttering that he had no idea what Sirius was talking about. Sirius shook his head, but gave him no further grief over the matter.

He said, "One more thing before you go about fixing yourself dinner. Tomorrow training gets back on schedule. No more time off."

Harry rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "Yes, mother."

* * *

The next morning, Harry was up before the sun, doing what Sirius called 'training.'

Harry's routine consisted of running, weight training, practicing with various weapons, and unarmed combat; among other things. Some of it was daily; some of it was not.

He had not trained for several days, so Sirius took great delight in making him do every single piece of training he knew. By mid-morning, Harry was muttering 'bloody slave driver' over and over under his breath, as a sort of mantra.

An hour or so before lunch, Ginny wandered in to the large training room they'd had built. She quietly sat down near the door to watch, a fact that did not escape Harry's notice. Her presence was extremely distracting, and Sirius was soon berating him for not paying attention to what he was doing.

"Enjoying the view?" he whispered malevolently, then shouted, "WELL GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE CLOUDS, POTTER! GET YOUR RAGING TEENAGE HORMONES IN CHECK AND CONCENTRATE ON YOUR WORK. NOW DROP AND GIVE ME 50. ONE. TWO. THREE."

He continued to count each push-up at the top of his lungs, as Harry - not for the first time - silently cursed himself for ever letting his godfather watch _Forrest Gump._ Sirius' favorite character had been the drill sergeant from when Forrest joined the army, and he apparently decided to become Harry's own personal drill sergeant.

Around noon, Sirius agreed to let Harry take a break for lunch, though he glowered at him menacingly for it, to which Harry only rolled his eyes in exasperation. Somehow, he had managed to shed his shirt during the workout, so he went to retrieve it.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, and he whirled around in surprise to find Ginny staring at him, openmouthed. He looked first behind him and then down at himself embarrasedly. "What?" he asked.

She flushed and looked away, and he furrowed his brow in bewilderment. What was that all about?

Mentally shrugging his shoulders in confusion, he pulled his t-shirt on and walked over to her. "Hungry?" he asked, offering his hand to help her to her feet.

She nodded, accepting his hand and then following him out the door.

"Harry?" she asked timidly a short while later.

He looked up from the sandwich he was devouring. "Yes?"

"Where did you learn all that..." she paused, seemingly struggling to find the right word to describe it. "Fighting stuff?"

He laughed quietly and leaned back in his chair. "Fighting stuff?"

She blushed and said, a bit defensively, "Well I don't know what else to call it!"

He chuckled again, shaking his head. The complete ignorance of all things muggle that pureblooded wizards displayed was astounding. "There are a lot of things to call it. Some would call it Martial Arts, but I hesitate to call it that, since there's a lot more involved than just a particular style."

He took another bite out of his sandwich and chewed it thoughtfully for a moment before going on, "As for where I learned it, it's difficult to say. We've actually only lived in this house for a couple of years. Before that, we moved around a lot, and Sirius always ensured that I had the very best hand-to-hand combat instructors possible. I learned bits and pieces of Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Aikido, Judo, Jujitsu, boxing, kickboxing, street fighting, wrestling, and even a little Jeet Kune Do. I basically put it all together into my own unique style of fighting."

He could tell she had no idea what the hell he was talking about, but was utterly fascinated anyway.

"Why do you do it?" she asked curiously.

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I can't really tell you that," he said. "It's really dangerous information to hold. Only a few people know."

She was disappointed, he could tell, so he changed the subject quickly. "So tell me about your family," he said. Remembering that he wasn't supposed to know about them at all, he added, "Do you have any siblings?"

This was a subject she could obviously warm up to, she launched straight into stories of all her brothers and their exploits, as well as her own role in the family. He was utterly fascinated, and listened with rapt attention to her every word, interrupting only occasionally with a question.

Having grown up with only Sirius for company, Harry had had a very lonely childhood. Sure, he'd had his instructors for company. He'd been highly trained in virtually every aspect of magic since he was five, but they were just his teachers. They weren't his friends. Often he had wished he had a brother or sister (or a whole load of them) to keep him company.

Ginny had six brothers, but she seemed to regard all of them with a little bit of contempt, because they tended to treat her like she was 10 years old all the time. Of course, he could also tell she loved all of them very much, despite that.

His initial impression of her older twin brothers, Fred and George, was how well they and Sirius would get along. He thought that he would get along best with Charlie and Ron, the quidditch fanatics, and he could see that Ginny seemed to get along best with Bill, the oldest. Her description of Percy left him wondering. He didn't sound at all like he even came from the same family as the rest of them.

When she told him about how she always snuck into her brother's broom shed to steal their brooms and fly, he nearly collapsed onto the floor he laughed so hard.

"Show them to consider you a little girl, eh?" he choked out. Her face was red with embarrassment, but she giggled a little and nodded. He wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself. "You and I will have to go flying some time," he said excitedly. "Sirius bought me a Firebolt for my birthday a few years ago." He paused and shook his head exasperatedly. "He bought one for himself too, though I have no idea why he did it. He never uses. Good thing now, though, since you can use it."

Her eyes bugged out and positively glowed with anticipation and excitement at the prospect. "Really? A Firebolt? I could actually get to ride a _Firebolt?_!"

"Of course!" he said heartily. "As soon as possible. For now, though, what about your parents? You haven't told me anything about them."

Still seeming ready to burst with excitement, she told him first of her father. Harry had to laugh inwardly at her description of him. It seemed that there were a few purebloods at least that held an interest in the muggle world. In the case of Arthur Weasley, it was to the extreme.

Molly Weasley, on the other hand, considered her husband a little crazy for his obsession. She was a wonderful mother, with strong instincts and a fiery temper when angered. She kept her red-headed brood in line with both loving words and a firm hand. For all this, she had a tendency to smother her children under a thick blanket of protection, pretending that they were all still little ones that needed to be sheltered.

Though she smiled and laughed while she told her story, tears fell down her cheeks. Harry started to panic. What should he do?

Gingerly, he reached across the table and put his hand and top of hers. "Don't cry, Gin. Everything will be alright. You have my word."

She stared at him for a moment, then mumbled, "I'm going to lay down for a while."

Well, it was an improvement anyway. At least she hadn't yelled at him like last time. Maybe she was starting to get used to the situation a little.

"I'll send Frost up in a little bit if you'd like to write some letters," he said as she rose to leave. She nodded and headed for her room, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

* * *

Some time later, he transformed into phoenix form and flew to her door. He considered just flashing into her room, but decided against it, wanting to respect her privacy. Instead, he landed on the floor and rapped his beak on the door.

She opened it within moments, and welcomed him with a happy cry of, "Frost!"

Inwardly, Harry wished that she could greet him in his human form as happily as she did when she thought he was a phoenix.

He leapt from the floor and alighted on her shoulder, giving a trill of joy. Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying, but her heart lifted at the sound of his phoenix song.

"Are you here to collect my letters?" she asked rhetorically. He trilled an affirmative, so she said, "Alright, but I'm not done with them yet. Will you wait?"

He trilled another postive response, and she giggled, walking over to the bed to finish her writing.

After several minutes, she looked up from her parchment to where he was still perched on her shoulder. She stroked the feathers on his head softly. "I just don't understand your master, Frost," she said. "He's so strange. In some ways, he's exactly the way I would picture the famous Harry Potter to be. He's strong, and handsome, and brave. He faced down those men in that alley all by himself! But he's also different somehow; more human maybe, I don't know."

She lowered her voice and whispered conspiratorily, "Can you keep a secret?"

He leaned closer and nodded excitedly (or as nearly so as a bird can manage), so she said, "Before I ever met him, I've always had this crush on him."

He nearly fell off her shoulder in shock.

She giggled. "I know, it's silly. Most people thought Sirius Black had kidnapped him and killed him, and I didn't even know him anyway. Yet, somehow I didn't think he was dead. He couldn't just be killed like that; not Harry Potter. He was a hero, and heroes didn't lose in my book."

She sighed. "Now I don't know what to think anymore. He's just as handsome as I always pictured him to be; I could just get lost in those green eyes . . . Oh gods, Frost, am I falling for him? He's my kidnapper for Merlin's sake! Yet, he's been so kind, and he says it was only for my own protection. _And_ he saved my life. What should I do?"

Harry was at a total loss for what to do at this point, so he just trilled a note of encouragement, wondering what she would do.

"I must be crazy," said Ginny, "Now I'm talking to a bird, too."

Harry ruffled his feathers and trilled indignantly at her, making her giggle.

"I'm sorry," she soothed. "You're right. You're not just an ordinary bird. You're a phoenix." Her face underwent a rapid change of emotion and she said, panicked, "Oh! You must have a way of communicating with Harry, don't you? You won't tell him anything I said will you, Frost? That would be so embarrassing."

He trilled her a reassuring negative, and she breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't a lie, he knew. He wouldn't exactly tell himself about this conversation, since he was the one who heard it.

"Oh, thank you, Frost, I knew I could trust you," she cried happily.

A short while later, she finished writing the letters to each of her family members, and laid them out for him to read. He did so quickly, noticing that they each seemed to be along the same lines. She said she was safe and unharmed, and being treated just fine. She hoped to be home soon, and so on.

As she tied the letters to his leg, she said, "I'm sorry you have to fly all the way to my house. It must be an awfully long way."

He tilted his head at her and blinked, then disappeared in a flash of orange and red flames, only to reappear in another ball of fire on top of her bed post.

She shrieked in surprise and fell off the side of her bed.

Recovering, she said in amazement, "Well I guess that takes care of that. Why did it take so long to deliver the last letter though if you can just reappear at my house?"

Unsure of how to answer, he simply tilted his head to the other side, watching her.

She sighed. "I wish you could talk, Frost. I bet I could learn a lot about Harry from you. He's so mysterious. And he doesn't tell me a lot because he says it's dangerous."

He trilled a sad sort of trill, letting her know that he wished he could talk to her, too.

She stroked his icy blue plumage one more time. "Thanks for listening, Frost, and thanks for taking my letters for me."

He leaned into the softness of her hand, enjoying the sensation of her touching him. She pulled her hand away after a moment, and allowed him to leave.

He did so, and in only a moment, he was at the Burrow once more.

* * *

AN

Well there it is. PLEASE REVIEW! I love your reviews, they give me a warm, fuzzy feeling inside when I read them. HAH.

Not sure when chapter four will be up, since last night while I was asleep an idea for a new story came and beat me over the head with a blunt instrument. I'm trying desperately to resist the urge to write it, at least for a couple weeks while I get you guys some more chapters. It's only a one-shot idea, but it's still frickin annoying to have it throbbing inside my temple.

Thanks to all of my reviewers, I can't tell you how much all your praise and advice means to me. Review responses below

**Esper:** Yeah, he hasn't gone to Hogwarts, and I don't think I'll make him go now, either. Not sure of the timeline yet, somewhere between 6 months and a year; probably closer to 6 months.

**peregine:** Indeed, that would seem to be the case, wouldn't it? Explanation later for that; I did think of it I can assure you.

**Disco Jesus:** HA HA HA. Awesome. Hermione will be in it later, as there's the slightest amount of R/H in this. Nothing from their POV, but they are together.

**caillion:** He doesn't trust Dumbledore to believe him, so he didn't even try to contact him. Harry is 16, and Ginny is about to turn 15 in this story. Voldemort is not in control, since he was defeated by Harry when Harry was a baby. He's risen now, but hasn't revealed himself to the world at large.

**littlewhitehorse: **They most certainly will. Who do you think he will win over first? After Ginny of course.

**smidge:** thanks. I think Ginny is often written wrongly too. I try, however, to keep an open mind and write her different ways for a little variety. The title was thought up by my brother, JC-S. He's ecstatic that you like it.

**csferosha:** Things are heating up, as you can see. It'll take a while, but it will be ever-present. Don't worry; I'm a romantic at heart as well. Something my guy friends tease me about, but my girl friends (I hope) think is cool...

**Paige2310:** of course she will. Wouldn't be called that if that wasn't going to happen. ;) hope you enjoy it!

**Marcus Lazarus:** He's to the point where he is in the books, but he hasn't revealed himself yet. We'll get an explanation for that in a future chapter. And Ron and Hermione know each other, and they'll probably end up together as well.

**Tanydwr:** mmmmm. Me love Chinese. And Tai (sp?), Tai is good too, cause it's spicy. We have cyber-cafes (thought they aren't as common, since most Americans tend tohave internet at home _and _at work), but I didn't get a chance to use one. Too busy, andI can't drive without a licensed driver in the front seat.

**everpresent:** Sirius and Harry have been on the run for ten years, so he's not so restless atm. That won't last long, of course, but for now they're enjoying some peaceful preperation for war. . . . that sounds hilarious. As for Scabbers...you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?

**EJC: **maybe, maybe not. Maybe I should kill him off like JKR did...I'M JUST KIDDING, DON'T KILL ME! I hate that he died, I promise I won't kill him off.

**gallandro-83:** they _dislike and distrust_ (not hate) him because he was the man who sent Order members to hunt down Sirius and 'rescue' Harry. Sirius also dislikes him because he just _let_ Crouch put him in prison without a trial, instead of even trying to figure anything out. Sorry for not explaining that earlier. As for the window, it just snaps shut and locks when she approaches that. I guess I should've explaned that as well...oops.


	5. Cakes and Broomsticks

AN

I sincerely apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I really intended to have it up Saturday, but my dad called me outside for yard work (which is my own fault since I've neglected it) and we spent the rest of the day doing that out front. Then on Sunday I had Service at my church, followed by orientation for my new job (I'm going to be a caddie at the golf course I live on! yay!). Then today (Monday as I write this, but only for another half-hour) we did the BACK yard.

Hopefully the fact that this is the longest chapter I've written yet in either of my stories will help you to forgive me.

Please note that this is another slow, somewhat fluffy, slightly angsty chapter, but next chapter we'll have some action.

Also please wish me luck with my new job, as I'm starting Wednesday. I have to 'shadow' a real caddie before I can really start, then I'll be an apprentice caddie.

Huge thanks to JC-S, who put some input into this chapter as it was written, and Yavinbase, who caught a lot of embarrassing mistakes. You guys rock!

Disclaimer: see prologue

* * *

Chapter 4

Cakes and Broomsticks

Harry arrived in the kitchen of Ginny's family home, wishing very much for a penseive. His head was a jumble of disjointed thoughts, and his emotions were on edge. One thought finally seemed to overcome all others, and it pounded in his head like a sledgehammer.

Ginny fancied him.

Or, she might anyway.

What was he going to do? He regretted now, more than ever, deceiving her with his animagus form.

And did he fancy her too? He certainly thought she was beautiful, and funny, and spirited, and he loved talking to her, and he wished she would talk to him the way she talked to Frost . . .

'Oh dear Merlin,' he thought, 'I do fancy her!'

He desperately wished he could talk to Sirius, for he was feeling incredibly lost and confused about the whole thing. That would have to be the first thing he did when he returned home.

A startled shriek broke through the shroud of his thoughts as Ginny's mum entered the kitchen to find him perched on the back of an empty chair.

Her startled exclamation brought every male in the house rushing to her side. It appeared that the twins, Ginny's father, and the youngest boy were the only ones home at the time, and all of them breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the cause of Mrs. Weasley's distress was not some sort of danger, but a phoenix.

Last to enter the room was a bushy-haired girl of perhaps Harry's own age. She carried a book in her hands, and there was an air of knowledge about her, and her eyes reflected a surprising amount of intelligence for one so young.

"What's wrong?" she asked, standing next to the youngest Weasley boy – Ron, if Harry recalled correctly – and trying desperately to see over the heads of the tall men blocking her view.

Wordlessly, they moved out of the way to let her see. She gasped. "Is that . . . "

Ron nodded numbly. "It is."

Mr. Weasley, by this time, had moved forward and undone the letters tied to Harry's leg. He handed each to its respective owner, leaving the ones for his three eldest sons on the kitchen table. Harry guessed they were out helping to look for their sister.

For a few minutes, there was only the rustling of paper as each member of the family read his or her letter. The bushy-haired girl looked distinctly uncomfortable about intruding on this family moment, but she stared at Harry the whole time, a calculating look in her eyes.

Acutely aware of this, Harry shifted uncomfortably and attempted to ignore her, though her scrutiny was severely unnerving.

Mrs. Weasley was the first to finish reading, and she looked to be close to bursting into tears. "Oh, Arthur," she said, "Her birthday is three days from now, it's the first time in her life she won't be here with us for it. And she'll be spending it with those Death Eaters no less."

A horrible sinking sensation settled into the pit of Harry's stomach, though he held himself high and tried not to show any sign that there was something wrong.

Mr. Weasley put a comforting arm around his wife, letting her cry onto his shoulder. For his part, he attempted to remain strong, though the mistiness in his eyes gave away his emotions.

"Now, now, Molly," he said, "I'm sure she's just fine. She says they haven't hurt her, and she's in fact being treated quite well. We'll just have to take her word for it."

Though he was trying to reassure his wife, there was doubt written all over his face. For the first time, Harry wondered what it would be like when he finally got Ginny home. He had come to like her quite a bit, and he wanted very much for them to be friends. But even if he could convince her of that, what would her family's reaction to him be?

The youngest Weasley boy's reaction to his letter gave Harry all the answer he needed.

Ron pounded his fist into the wall and started pacing the room. "I'm going to _kill_ them!" he burst out angrily. "Just wait until I find out who they are, I'll kill them for taking her!"

He continued to stomp back and forth across the room, clenching and unclenching his hands and muttering about how he should be out there looking for his sister.

"Ronald!" exclaimed his mother dangerously, "You're too young! Now there'll be no more talk of that!"

"Mum!" he complained, rolling his eyes. "I'm sixteen, not six. I should be out there helping to find Ginny!"

"Absolutely not," she said firmly. "It's bad enough all your brothers are out there putting themselves in harm's way. You should all leave it to the Order. What if one of you got hurt?" Tears came to her eyes, and her voice dropped to a near-whisper. "What if another of you was taken?"

Ron deflated somewhat, and patted his mother awkwardly on the back. "Don't worry mum," he said uneasily. She reached out and pulled his tall, lanky frame down to her for a hug.

Harry, feeling even more like he was intruding, decided to come back later for their replies, and vanished in a ball of flames.

* * *

Soon after returning, he went to talk to Sirius about his last conversation as Frost with Ginny.

"What do I do, Padfoot?" he moaned.

Sirius' face was lit up with an ear-to-ear grin. He was quite obviously enjoying this far too much. "Do you like her?" he asked delightedly. Harry opened his mouth, but his godfather stopped him to add, "Don't lie to me, Frost, or I'm not giving you any advice."

"I told you not to use my Marauder name!" Harry hissed, throwing an anxious look at the closed door of Sirius' room. "What if she hears you?"

Sirius shrugged. "I told you not to lie to her about Frost being you, but you didn't listen to me. It's your own fault, and you're going to get found out eventually. Now," he leaned forward. "Do you like her or not?"

Harry groaned and put his face in his hands. "Yes," he mumbled.

"What was that?" Sirius asked, putting a hand to one ear and turning his head sideways. "Didn't quite catch it."

"I said YES!" Harry hissed. "Happy?"

"Very," Sirius replied, cackling merrily. "Oh this is too good."

"When you're finished," Harry snapped impatiently, "perhaps you can get on with giving me some advice. That is why I came to you after all, not to get laughed at."

"Alright, alright, keep your shirt on," Sirius said, finally becoming the adult in the conversation. He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "This is certainly a predicament you've gotten yourself into, Harry."

"Never would've figured that out myself," Harry said sarcastically.

Sirius rolled his eyes and ignored him. He sat in silence for several minutes, just thinking. Eventually, he shrugged his shoulders. "There's nothing else for it, you'll just have to tell her."

"What!" Harry exclaimed. "I-I can't do that."

Sirius shrugged. "Well, alternatively, you could just ignore it. It may just be a mere physical attraction and it'll go away once she leaves us, and you may even find someone else. On the other hand, if you really like her, you'll always wonder what would've happened if you'd done something about it. It's your choice, kiddo."

Harry's shoulders drooped miserably and he stared at the floor.

"Hey," said Sirius softly, setting his hand comfortingly on his godson's shoulder. "Look, she's probably going to be here for a while. You don't have to do anything right away. Just think about it for a while and get to know her better. See if you can get some hint of whether she really likes you or not. Oh, and I'd suggest coming clean about Frost soon. The longer it goes on, the worse it'll be when you admit it."

Harry sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right, but I don't think I can fess up to that just yet." Sirius shook his head sadly, causing him to add defensively, "I will, just not right now!"

He got up and strode towards the door. Yes, he thought to himself. He would, eventually. In the meantime, he would just spend some time with Ginny, and see how things went.

* * *

The next few days passed by fairly quickly for Harry. Each morning he trained with his godfather, while Ginny watched with interest. After that, they'd have lunch and spend the rest of the day together, talking, playing Exploding Snap, or reading from the house's extensive library. Occasionally, Harry would carry letters back and forth from Ginny to her family, or just spend time with her as Frost.

He worried about when he would tell her Frost's true identity, for she was already beginning to wonder why she never saw both of them in the same room at the same time. She asked him twice about this, but Harry either brushed her off or changed the subject both times. He knew that wasn't going to fly for long; soon she was going to demand answers.

He only hoped she would forgive him for deceiving her.

The morning of her birthday, August 11th, he was up before dawn, preparing her surprise party. Magical sparks flew as he decorated the house from top to bottom with balloons, streamers, confetti, and large banners.

The day before, he had delivered the Weasleys a note from himself, asking them to send Ginny's presents back with Frost. The note didn't say his name, and they had been extraordinarily confused. Yet, unable to come up with an evil reason for him to want them to send her presents, they did as he asked.

Those presents were now hiding the kitchen table, along with one from himself and Sirius. A cake was in the oven, though Harry was sure he had botched it up somehow, having never before made a cake the muggle way. Magic cooking never worked out well when he attempted it, so he had refrained from even thinking about doing it that way.

Soon everything was ready; the cake was frosted (and lopsided), the presents were laid out, a large breakfast was hot and charmed to stay that way, and Sirius had even dragged his lazy self out of bed early for the occasion. (The promise of cake may have had something to do with it)

Harry went up to awaken the birthday girl at seven o'clock, praying desperately that she would like her surprise.

He was about to knock on her door when he heard a soft sound coming from within. Curiosity aroused, he pressed his ear to the door and listened closely. Soft sobs reached his ears, and he jerked back in surprise. She was crying! Probably remembered it was her birthday, and her mother _had_ said it would be the first one she'd spent without her family.

His heart plummeted. He had caused her so much pain already, and now this? He felt low, and ashamed.

Maybe the party would cheer her up. He had to try. He knocked cautiously on her door, receiving a choked, "Yes?" from inside.

"It's Harry," he called out. "Can I come in?"

"Just a minute." She tried to keep her voice steady, but it cracked slightly.

He waited anxiously for her to compose herself, and it was a few minutes later that she opened the door for him. Her eyes were red-rimmed and a little watery, but she smiled at him in an attempt at cheerfulness. "Hi," she said.

"Hi," He replied. He gave her a weak smile. "I've got a surprise for you."

Her face brightened a little for real this time. "What is it?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it, shaking a finger at her. "Ah, ah, ah. None of that. You'll just have to see. Close your eyes."

She made a small sound of impatience in the back of her throat, and squeezed her eyes shut obediently. Just to be certain, Harry stood behind her and placed his hands over them.

He guided her carefully down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he removed his hands. "You can look now," he whispered in her ear.

A shiver, of anticipation he thought, passed through her at this, and she opened her eyes. He was standing behind her, so he could not see her face as she stared at the scene before her.

Sirius, a ridiculous muggle party hat on his head and a noisemaker in hand, waved merrily at her.

She stood that way for several long moments, before she whirled to face Harry, tears forming in her eyes.

"Surprise," he murmured.

"You did this?" He nodded. "How did you know?" she asked.

"Frost overheard your mum say when your birthday was. He told me."

"So he really can talk to you?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Sort of. I can't really explain it. D-d'you like it?" He waved his hand at the decorations.

"It's _wonderful_," she said happily. "You didn't have to."

"I wanted to. Happy Birthday. You're 15 right?" She nodded.

"Alright you two," Sirius called out from the table, "Enough mush. Let's eat." Both teenagers laughed at him, but sat down to eat nonetheless. Harry did not fail to notice that Ginny seemed to have grown more comfortable around both himself and his godfather – a fact for which he was quite thankful.

Breakfast was delicious, if Harry did say so himself. Afterwards, they had the cake he'd made, because Sirius refused to be kept waiting until after lunch for that part.

He watched anxiously as Ginny took her first bite, and nearly groaned aloud in frustration when she had to force a grimace off her face. He took a bite himself and had to agree, it was quite horrible.

"You don't like it, do you?" he asked.

She started trying to reassure him that she did like it, but he waved his hand. "It's alright, I agree, it's awful."

She smiled sympathetically at him, and he dropped his fork in disgust. "Figures. I wanted this all to be perfect," he muttered.

"Don't worry about it, Harry," she said encouragingly. "It _is_ perfect. You went to a lot of trouble for me." She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and whispered, "Thank you for everything, it was really sweet of you."

She sat back down in her own chair, and as she did so Harry noticed that she had turned a delicate shade of pink. Judging by the warmth in his own cheeks, he imagined he looked about the same. He could almost still feel the cool pressure of her lips on his face, and he placed his hand where she had kissed him.

A quick glance at Sirius showed that the older man hadn't noticed anything; too busy was he shoveling cake into his mouth. Judging by how fast the food was going in, Harry doubted Sirius could taste anything he was eating – which explained why he hadn't spit the horrible cake back out in disgust.

Harry and Ginny sat in an embarrassed silence for the next few minutes, until Sirius finally finished stuffing his face and exclaimed, "Presents!" so exuberantly that one would think it was _his_ birthday instead of Ginny's.

Both teenagers rolled their eyes at him, and Ginny pulled the nearest gift towards herself. Her eyes widened in surprise when she read the tag attached, and she asked incredulously, "How did I get a gift from my _parents?_"

Harry grinned. "I sent them a note with Frost, and he brought them back for you."

She murmured her thanks and went back to the pile of gifts on the table. Her family seemed to have pulled out all the stops, knowing they wouldn't be with her, and it took her a few minutes to get through them all.

Finally, all that remained was a long, thin package from the kidnappers. Harry fidgeted nervously as she flashed him a brilliant smile and tore through the sloppy wrapping job. When she saw the gleaming handle of a brand new _Firebolt_, she gasped and turned to Harry in amazement. "These are incredibly expensive! Why-"

"I wanted you to have your own," he interrupted quickly. "You told me your favorite thing to do was fly, and this way you can keep it when you go home, instead of just borrowing Sirius' while you're here."

"Thank you. Thank you both," she breathed, unable to say more.

"We'll go flying this afternoon," he added. "That is, if you want to."

"Yes, oh, yes please!" she exclaimed immediately. "I haven't been flying for so long. When can we go?"

"Right now!" Sirius interjected. "You two go ahead, and I'll clean up here." Harry started to argue, but Sirius just waved his hands, "No, no, don't you worry about me, I have magic. You know very well I'm too lazy to really clean up around here. Now get out of here and enjoy your day. I'll see you tonight."

Harry turned and looked into Ginny's bright, hopeful brown eyes, and said, "Alright then, see you tonight, Siri."

Ginny let out a little squeal of excitement and raced up the stairs to get changed into appropriate clothing for flying.

Shaking his head in amusement, Harry followed at a slower pace and retrieved his own broom and his chest of Quidditch balls. Charmed to be feather-light, the chest also served as a portkey to the location where Harry and his godfather typically did their flying.

When Ginny returned, broom clutched tightly in hand, Harry instructed her to place her finger on the chest. That done, he followed suit and muttered the activation words, 'Gryffindor Lions.' An uncomfortable sensation behind his naval let him know that it had worked, and a second later, they landed at their destination.

Harry collapsed forwards onto his knees, but Ginny maintained her balance to gaze around in awe at her surroundings. Even though Harry had been there before, he felt like dropping his jaw along with her, for the place was truly spectacular.

They were in the middle of a gigantic clearing in a valley, surrounded on all sides by wilderness. Mountains and trees were all that could be seen for miles and miles in any direction. The clearing in which they stood was the exact size and shape of a Quidditch pitch, with the perfectly groomed grass looking freshly cut and healthy.

"What do you think?" he asked, grinning as he got to his feet and brushed off his knees.

"It's amazing," was her awestruck reply. "How . . ."

"A lot of hard work," he supplied. "Sirius knew I needed somewhere to unwind, what with all my training, and flying was the best way to do that. So, we built this. It took us around two years, working off and on, but the result was worth it, I think. There are muggle repellant wards all over the place, along with multiple powerful preservation charms to keep the pitch in perfect condition, and a sort of 'invisibility shield' forming a dome around the area, so as to keep prying eyes at bay."

"Incredible," she said. She gazed off into the distance for another moment; then asked, "So where are we?"

He thought about it for a moment. "Somewhere in Canada," he said vaguely. "Nowhere near any civilization, if that's what you're asking." He grinned at her. "Alright, enough chit-chat, let's get up there!"

She certainly gave no argument to that, and within moments they were soaring through the clean, alpine air. Harry took his broom through a series of loops, dives, and rolls that a professional Quidditch player would've been hard put to match, yet found, to his surprise, that Ginny was following him and matching him maneuver for maneuver. Knowing the invisibility shield extended a short ways into the forest, he shot into the trees, weaving in and out at suicide speeds. Ducking low-hanging branches, rolling to avoid massive trunks, he expected to find she had become scared and slowed down. Yet, as he shot back out into the clear space over the pitch, he looked back to find her still with him, a triumphant gleam in her eye.

"Not bad," he called out, having paused in mid-air to catch his breath.

"I can do better than that," she called out. "Catch me if you can, Harry!"

With that, she took off like a shot, once more entering a breathtaking series of maneuvers that nearly had his head spinning in circles. He sped up and matched her, move for move, the two of them flying in tandem; a beautiful, intricate dance in the bright, sunlit sky.

How long they flew, neither really knew until they landed quite some time later. All they knew was the joy of flight.

When finally did land, the sun was directly overhead, and their stomachs were grumbling furiously.

"That . . . that was . . . amazing," Ginny said breathlessly.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, trying to bring his breathing back under control. "I've never done anything like that before."

"Me neither." She giggled a little when his stomach let out an extra large rumble. "Hungry?"

"Yeah," he muttered. "You?" She nodded, so he motioned for her to follow him to the edge of the pitch. Just inside the tree line, he stopped, feeling around on the ground for something.

"What are you doing?" she asked, but he just waved a hand at her for silence.

"Aha!" he cried, pulling up on the small, iron ring he had just grasped. It was the handle to a trap door. It was heavy, and he grunted with effort, his muscles straining to lift the hatch open.

After a moment, he succeeded, and they both looked down the opening of a short shaft into the ground. A ladder was on the side, and Harry put his foot on the first rung.

"This is our storehouse," he explained, seeing that she was about to ask a question. "Sirius does more eating than flying while we're here, so we put a bunch of foodstuffs down here for meals, in case he didn't want to go back home to eat." He grinned. "Be right back with some food."

He disappeared down the ladder for a few minutes, putting a few sandwiches and other simple foods together.

The room was fairly small, and packed all manner of food and a few dishes. Sirius had a large supply of canned food (despite the fact that the preservation charms kept everything fresh) all in one corner of the small, earthen chamber.

Besides being a place to store snack food, it also served as an emergency cache of supplies, in case Grimmauld Place was ever compromised. If that happened, they could stay fairly well hidden at the pitch for quite some time, without starving to death.

A misplaced step sent all the canned food crashing down on top of Harry, with enough noise to wake the dead. He crawled out from under the cans, cursing his godfather inventively.

"Are you alright?" Ginny's concerned voice floated down to him.

"I'm fine," he called back through gritted teeth, trying not to make it sound as if he was angry with her. "Just a little accident; nothing to worry about."

Soon he had a picnic basket prepared for the two of them, and he conjured a blanket for them to avoid sitting on the grass in the warm, bright sunshine.

They spent the rest of the day there on the pitch, alternately flying and just sitting on the sun-warmed blanket to talk. Harry learned that Ginny played Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team at Hogwarts, while her brother Ron played Keeper. She asked him a little about his childhood, so he told her about what he remembered of the Dursleys.

They practiced catching the Snitch and tossing the Quaffle about, and Harry found that while he could beat her at the former, he was no match for her at all at the latter.

"Why aren't you playing Chaser?" he asked as they hovered in mid-air. "You're fantastic with the Quaffle; I can't even come close to blocking your shots."

She blushed at his compliment. "Well, I'm really the only one who can Seek right now. We haven't found anyone else who can replace me."

"Oh." He could understand that. She was very good at Seeking too, even if not near as well as at Chasing.

Harry insisted that they stay until night fell, for he wanted to show her something. When the sun had completely set, and the night was as dark as it was going to be, he had her lay down next to him on the blanket and look straight up into the night sky.

She gasped, and he had to agree with her. Far up above them were the stars; their incredible beauty undiminished by city lights, smoke, or even clouds.

"Beautiful isn't it?" he asked. She nodded, speechless with awe. "I've always loved the stars," he said, almost to himself, "Ever since Sirius told me about Voldemort, and what happened to me when I was a year old. I went outside that night and looked at the sky, and all I could think was that _there_ was something beautiful and sacred; something Voldemort could never destroy, or control, or even touch."

He broke off, a tear sliding down his cheek. "They always make me realize that, no matter what happens, he will never win. He will never triumph, for there will always be something he can't have."

He glanced over at her to see a tear sliding down her cheek as well. She rolled over onto her side, facing him and propping herself up on one elbow. "Harry, is that why you're training? To fight You-Know-Who?"

He copied her move, so that they were facing one another. He started to deny her question, but something stopped him. For some reason, he _wanted_ to tell her the truth. Didn't she deserve it? Didn't she deserve to know why they were holding her prisoner? She would be safe with them as long as necessary; no one could force the information out of her at Grimmauld Place. For reasons he couldn't explain, he trusted her, completely.

"Yes," he admitted, "I am going to fight him. There was a Prophecy made before I was born, it states that I am the only one who can defeat him. That's why he tried to kill me when I was a year old, and that's why he's kept trying to kill me now."

Her eyes widened. "He's still trying?"

He nodded sadly. "Yes, for quite some time now. When Sirius rescued me from my aunt and uncle's, it became front-page news in wizarding papers around the world. Voldemort, who was not dead, but not yet alive, heard of this and possessed the body of a young wizard to come after us both. Out from under the protective wards of my 'home,' I was vulnerable to him.

"Sirius had not expected this; he thought Voldemort had indeed died that night at my parent's house. He wanted to turn himself in and put me back in Dumbledore's protection, but I begged him not to. I finally had family. I wasn't about to lose it without a fight."

He paused, a melancholy look stealing over his features. "Those years were hard. We had to move around a lot. Always the Order, the Ministry, or Voldemort were hot on our tails; Voldemort closest of all. He caught up with us several times, but each time we managed to escape by the skin of our teeth. Until one year ago, when he finally got his own body back."

A shiver ran down his spine at the thought of that night. Voldemort had tricked him into thinking Sirius was waiting to meet him in the cemetery outside a small town called Little Hangleton, England. Sirius was supposed to be out trying to find a new location for them to hide, but the message was sufficiently like him for Harry to go.

Once there, he realized why it was that it was so convincingly like Sirius' handwriting and manner. Peter Pettigrew, the traitor of the Marauders, had written it. He fled from where ever he'd been hiding the minute news of Sirius' escape came out, and joined up with his master a few years later.

Once he was at the graveyard, Peter hit Harry with stunning and confusion spells before he realized it, and he was soon bound to a gravestone and used for the resurrection of Voldemort's body.

Once his Death Eaters were summoned, the Dark Lord challenged Harry to a duel.

That had been his big mistake. He removed the confusion spell from Harry and gave him his wand, arrogantly believing he could easily beat the boy.

When the duel commenced and Harry's thoughts returned to their normal state, he found that he was under an anti-disapparition jinx and facing a barrage of spells from the most powerful Dark Lord of the age.

Instincts born of years of training kicked in, and he dodged them, immediately sending back a few curses of his own. He knew he wasn't ready for the final duel, and he needed to get out of there; and for that he needed time to shift to his animagus form.

He was hard pressed to do so, for Voldemort was angry that he was not able to immediately destroy Harry. The Dark Lord was far more powerful than the boy, but Harry was faster.

Eventually, a thought had come to him, and before he could think better of it, he cast the Killing Curse at his enemy. Voldemort was so shocked by the fact that a Light wizard had used that spell that he almost didn't dodge it in time. This gave Harry the opportunity he'd been waiting for, and he vanished in a ball of flame.

"Harry?"

Ginny's voice shook him out of his thoughts. "Sorry," he muttered.

"It's okay, I just wanted to ask, um, a few days ago you told me he thought you were dead. Why is that?"

A grim, but somewhat pleased smile grew on his face. "Now that's an interesting thing. Voldemort is no fool. He knows I'm dangerous because of the Prophecy, and he knows that I'll probably come after him using magic. So, he tried to kill me using muggle means."

"What? But I thought he hated muggles and everything to do with them? How would he even know how to do it?"

"He's half-muggle," Harry replied simply. Her eyes widened in shock. "Yep, that's right," he went on, "He's a true hypocrite if I ever saw one. Anyway, he must know a thing or two about muggle explosives, because he planted a car bomb in the vehicle Sirius and I were using. Fortunately, I had silent wards placed on it to let me know if anyone tampered with it, and we placed strong anti-fire and anti- shields over ourselves before getting in the car. We thought it'd be best if he thought we both died, and we were right. We haven't been bothered since, and that was almost a year ago.

"After that, we moved into Grimmauld Place, so that I could train in peace, waiting for him to come out of hiding and show his existence to the world."

"Were you the one who told Professor Dumbledore that You-Know-Who came back?" Ginny asked.

Harry shook his head. "Nah, that was his spy, who felt Voldemort calling to him. We were going to send the headmaster a message, but fortunately it turned out we didn't need to." His expression became one of great bitterness. "Of course, that bumbling old fool, Fudge, doesn't believe Dumbledore, and that will make the fight against snake-face all that much harder."

"Mum and Dad believe him," Ginny said.

Harry nodded. "I'm glad. At least your family will know to protect themselves."

"Harry," Ginny started cautiously. She stopped, hesitant to ask whatever it was she had on her mind, so he waved at her to go ahead. "Why . . . Why don't you at least try to talk to Dumbledore? I bet he'd believe your story about Sirius if you just talked to him and explained it."

He shrugged. "Sirius and I have always done things by ourselves. I've spent most of my life running from Dumbledore and his Order, among others. You can't really expect me to trust him after that, can you? I've never even met him personally. Sirius trusted him, once upon a time, but not any more. If the headmaster had tried to help him at all when he was sent to prison, then maybe, but he didn't. He didn't even attempt to find out Sirius' side of the story."

She obviously disagreed with him, but they said no more on the subject; lying back once more to stare at the sky.

After a few minutes, Ginny asked, "You're really going to fight him aren't you?"

"Yes."

She made a strange choking noise, and he asked, concerned, "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. It's just . . . I don't want you to get hurt."

He blinked, surprised. "Really?"

"Yes!" she almost shouted, then more quietly, "Over the last few days, I-I guess I've come to see you as my friend. It's silly."

She turned away, embarrassed, but he put a hand on her arm and pulled her back to look at him. "I would be honored to be your friend, Ginny, and I hope you'll be mine. I've never had a real friend before, other than Sirius. And he doesn't count."

She giggled. "Of course I'll be your friend."

They sat in a comfortable silence for some time, until Ginny broke it once more. "Do you trust me?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. Yes I do."

"Then, can I have my wand back? I promise I won't try to escape, I know now that I'll be putting you and myself in danger."

He sighed sadly. "I'm sorry, I can't do that." She looked hurt, so he hastily added, "It's not that I don't trust you, but it wouldn't be any use since if you used it the Ministry would detect it and we'd have to move to another location." Suddenly, a thought came to him, and his face brightened. "You can use my spare wand, though!"

She looked hesitant to hope. "Really?"

"Really," he confirmed. She let out a little squeal of joy and hugged him excitedly, then seemed to realize what she was doing and backed away hurriedly, cheeks flaming.

"Right," Harry said, flustered by the hug. "We better get back, then, or Sirius will be wondering about us."

"Of course," she agreed, avoiding his gaze.

As he stood and Vanished their blanket, Harry could still almost feel her body pressed up against him, her soft warmth comforting. The smell of her hair had been so intoxicating; he just wanted to breathe it in forever.

He shook his head to clear it of these thoughts, and went back to gathering up the Quidditch supplies. It had been a truly wonderful day, spending so much time with her, but now it was time to go home.

* * *

AN

PLEASE REVIEW! I mean it, even if just to say, "I read it," please give me a review! You don't have to like it to review, you just have to have read it (be polite please, if you don't like it, say so politely. don't flame me, I'm a highly flammable material)

Hopefully, this chapter clears up a few questions about the alternate history aspect of this story. In his first year, Voldemort was chasing him instead of the Stone, so it stayed safe. In second year, it is my personal belief that without Harry, Malfoy wouldn't have planted the diary at Hogwarts (with Ginny), but after all, Sirius didn't break out of Azkaban when Harry was five either. (AU ROCKS!). Third year is unecessary, for obvious reasons, and the tri-wizard tournament DID take place, but there were only three champions (Cedric won, and is now waiting for his fiance, Cho, to graduate so they can get married.) Fifth year is also unecessary. Also, I hope the bit about Peter was believable. Will I connect Scabbers with Wormtail in the story? Maybe.

Now, with your permission, I'd like to rant (not at you, but to you, thanks for listening). I tried to put this story up on another site (which shall remain nameless) and it was REJECTED! Want to know why? Because there were concerns about the plot! I'm not sure, but I take that to mean there were holes (like the Chamber incident) in the plot. Now, did they include a way to contact the administrators of the site so that I could tell them that that would be explained in later chapters (since I'm only allowed to submit two to see if it gets accepted)? NO! They said to go get myself a beta and have him check over my work! I ALREADY HAVE TWO FRICKIN BETAS! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?

Screw them, I'll take my story elsewhere. Thanks again for listening (reading) my rant. It feels good to get that off my chest.

ON TO THE REVIEW RESPONSES! TALLY HO!

**theKRITIC: **two reasons. 1) because Ginny is also technically a kidnap victim, and may therefore be a Stockholm Syndrome case. 2) the title doesn't necessarily mean they HAVE SS, so much as others BELIEVE they have it. For instance, if Harry told his story to Fudge, the pompous old fool would wave it off as SS.

**Rachel A. Prongs:** One very sad, pathetic thing I find about us humble (er, I mean loud, obnoxious, proud, obstinate) HGers is that most of the time we try too hard to make them get together too fast. This tends to make people not like Ginny very much, and it chases people away to other ships. That is why one of the most rewarding things for me as a writer is when someone who doesn't like my ship, reads the story anyway and likes it. Even more rewarding (though you're the first for me) is possibly convincing someone to ship-shift. My advice to you is to not get yourself stuck on any one ship. Keep an open mind about them. I wish I had, because now I can't stand reading Harry with anyone but Ginny, and vice versa.

Powerful!Harry seems to also be a popular thing, though not just among HGers (far from it). I did that a little bit in my other fic, because I like to writecharacters different ways in different stories. When I started this story, I decided to make him more the warrior-type, with strong fighting skills, but notso much raw magical power that he blasts Voldemort into oblivion with no trouble.

He knows Occlumency. thanks for the excellent review!

**Dumbledore:** Wow, 99 favorites. LOL. I do promise to bring more action into it (next chapter, to be precise), and there will be interaction with other characters soon (who, I refuse to tell). You know, you sounded a little like a Jedi...Balance is the key.

**Esper:** It refers to both, or either, depending on how you look at it.

**luka-black:** I'd hate to be him too, and I'm going to be evil with that part. Just ask my brother. He insists I'm twisted, and I tell him my plans for the fic.

**lilybug:** Ginny will be mad of course. And the goblins don't care about who puts money in their bank (they didn't care when Sirius bought Harry the Firebolt in book 3), so Harry and Sirius are safe as far as that goes.

**Marcus Lazarus:** Yep, you got it. And we'll see more of the Weasleys soon. Just think of the reaction when they find out their daughter/sister's new boyfriend (once I stopscrewing around andgetour two lovebirds together)is the one who kidnapped her. oh the drama!

**annie:** This story usually takes longer because I'm more careful about getting it just the way I want it (maybe that's even why you like it more than the other one) I certainly will try to get the chapters out as often as humanly possible.

**Nikki: **Tired of HG? Not me, that's for sure. And no one else I know personally. heh

**Tanydwr:** left out the 'h!' I knew that! No, really I did! er...

Anyway, the age at which you can drive here varies by state (I lived in Montana for a while, and you can drive with a licensed adult in the front seat at 14 1/2 years old there) Her in Washington, you can get a partial license at 16, but ONE infraction (like one speeding ticket) gets it suspened til you're 18. So for two years you have to be perfect. Florida was way better in that regard.

Maxfic rings a bell (I've read Gift from the Past, Promise for the Future) but HP and the Unkown Power does not. I may have read it (I read a lot a few months ago that I don't remember), but if I did, the idea didn't come from there. Thanks for the heads-up.

If anyone British spots problems, I would SO appreciate an email on that. I don't usually know the thing myself unless someone points it out, which is why I have two betas that find obvious things. They're both American though.

My dad didn't really make me not write, either, it was just that we worked from early in the morning til about ten at night, so I only had an hour or so before I fell asleep at my laptop. It was an hour set by me so that I didn't drop dead from exhaustion, but it was still indirectly my dad's fault.

**saugart:** Well, he's wary of giving her too much info at first, but he opened up a bit in this chapter. And you're right, he could've said that much to her, but also remember that he doesn't really know her that well. It's hard to talk about someone out to kill you with someone you've only met a couple days before (someone you're pretty sure hates you for kidnapping them)

**SeekerTLK:** yep, high school, though I'm homeschooled (and halfway through 12th grade atm). Thanks for the encouragement, I needed it. I love kids! Don't know how good I am with them, but I know I want to start a BIG family some day (after I find someone to start it with of course. I'm patient, I can wait for the right girl)

**Disco Jesus:** Harry and Sirius' plan revealed in next chapter, and Remus comes in eventually (reunion of best friends!)

**SilverPunk with an attitude: **thanks, I'm glad to know I can bring in even readers that don't like the ship.

**everpresent:** So how'd I do with Gryffindor's resident certifiable genius?


	6. Out of the Closet

AN

Here we are again. Sorry for the wait, I've been uber busy for the last week. Just got back from a Hapkido seminar as I type.

We have some action in this story this chapter (finally!) so I hope you're all ready to enjoy a bit of that. I had an entire alternate fight scene all written out, but didn't like it, so I took this is an entirely different direction than I first intended. I can honestly say that I enjoyed writing this chapter the most of any I've ever done, and it is now my favorite (even if I'm not certain it came out optimum)

Ok, I want a vote on this. Do I take this fic all the way to Voldemort's defeat? Or do I just end it when Harry has finally (sorta) got the Weasleys to come around to he and Ginny's relationship (er, this is in the future of course. after I quit screwing around and get em together, the Weasleys are going to have problems with it obviously.) and the war with Voldemort is looking hopeful but not sure.

The next update you see from me will be a one-shot that I'm submitting to the muggle picnic challenge on SIYE. Mostly fluffy HG romance. Then I'll be back on this and BoL. That reminds me, any of you guys heard of the Accio Fan Fiction awards? If not, I recommend heading over there. Some of my favorite stories are there.

Huge thank you to JC-S and Yavinbase for their spectacular help with this chapter

Disclaimer: see prologue

* * *

Chapter 5

Out of the Closet

The next day, Harry awoke with the resolution that today; he would come clean about Frost with Ginny. They were just now really friends, and he didn't want the guilt of that hanging over his head all the time.

Hopefully, she would forgive him.

He went through his training for the morning as usual, growing more and more nervous and fidgety as the morning progressed. By the time Ginny came in to watch him finish up, Sirius had yelled at him over a dozen times for not paying attention to what he was doing.

Noon arrived, none too soon in Harry's opinion, and he and Ginny headed downstairs for their usual lunch routine. As they walked, he tried several times to say something, but couldn't seem to force the words out of his mouth.

Gathering his courage, he was about to try once more when Ginny said something first.

"Thanks again for everything yesterday, Harry."

He blinked. She'd thanked him yesterday, why was she saying that again? "No problem."

"I've always loved flying," she continued casually, casting him a sidelong look that had him completely bewildered. "I guess you have too, haven't you?"

"Er," he said intelligently, "Yeah, I've always loved it." He thought back to the first time he'd ridden a broom. "Ever since Sirius came to get me from my aunt and uncle's." She sent him a questioning glance, so he related the story to her. Within moments, they were both laughing uproariously.

"After I got over the shock," Harry managed around his laughter, "I loved it. He got me my first broom a few weeks later."

After they recovered from their laughter, Ginny asked, "So, do you like to go flying as Frost very often?"

"Definitely," Harry said without thinking. "It's nice to do it without the broom sometimes-"

He trailed off, horrified, and clamped a hand over his mouth in disbelief. He looked at Ginny, noticing immediately that her face was turning an incredible shade of red. "I-I, that is, I," he stuttered.

"You what?" she snapped. "You decided it would be a laugh to have fun at my expense? I knew there was something wrong about you supposedly having a Phoenix, and I should have _known_ this was too good to be true. You said you wanted to be my friend last night, yet you do nothing but lie to me. Now I find out you've been secretly able to read my private letters, _and _I _confided_ things in you."

"Ginny," he said desperately, "I was going to tell you-"

"Yeah right," she interrupted, "And I'm Merlin himself. I don't want to hear it."

For a moment he was afraid she'd whip out the wand he'd given her the night before and hex him, but instead she turned on her heel and stormed away, angry tears in her eyes.

He ran forward and reached out a hand to stop her, grasping her shoulder. "Wait!"

She turned around, and to his shock, slapped him resoundingly across the cheek so hard that he stumbled slightly. "Stay away from me!" she yelled, and ran up the stairs to her room.

He stood there in the hallway, the imprint of her hand still stinging on his cheek. It was several minutes before he was able to move again, and he slowly walked to Ginny's door.

"Ginny?" he called out, knocking lightly. No answer came, so he called again, "Ginny? Can we please talk?" Still, all he received for his efforts was silence. He sank to the floor with his back against the door and put his head in his hands.

'What have I done?' he thought despondently, then said aloud, "I never meant for this to go so far. I'm sorry."

He could easily have opened the door magically, even if it was locked, but decided that would not be the right way to solve this problem. He sat that way for the rest of the day, but Ginny never emerged, nor did she respond to his efforts to talk to her.

* * *

The next week was very trying for both of them. Ginny eventually came out of her room, but she was very cold to Harry and refused to stay in the same room as him for any period of time.

Sirius insisted that she would eventually come around and forgive him, but Harry had his doubts. He couldn't even get her to stand near him long enough for him to apologize.

On the other hand, she did not try to use her newly-received wand to escape (or hex him for that matter), something he took as a good sign.

One evening, eight days after Ginny's birthday, Sirius came racing into Harry's room, where his godson was reading.

"Harry! It's happening!" he cried frantically.

Harry, who had been reading on his bed, shot to his feet in an instant. "What?" he yelled.

"The detectors, they're going haywire. I think this is it."

"Come on," said Harry, and he led the way from the room. They hurried downstairs, and stopped in front of a seemingly blank wall in the parlor.

"Prongs," Harry whispered, and a panel slid aside to reveal a dark staircase that descended underground.

They hurried downstairs and into a large room they called their 'War Room.' The walls of the room were completely covered with gigantic maps. Diagon Alley, Hogwarts, St. Mungo's, Hogsmeade, and the Ministry were prominently featured, along with several maps of different large sections of England itself.

Largest of all, covering an entire wall by itself, was a map of the entire country.

Yet these were no ordinary maps. Modified versions of Sirius' designs for the original Marauder's Map, they were magically linked to their locations, and allowed those viewing them to have live updates on the situation at those locations.

Though not nearly detailed enough to list each and every person, much less their names, they had their uses.

Green lights were scattered seemingly at random over each map, and many of these were rapidly turning red and blaring out warning sounds.

"Merlin's beard," Harry breathed.

"You can say that again. Apparently he's decided to come out of the closet. When he does something, he goes all out."

They headed straight to the large table in the center of the room, where much smaller, single maps of many of Britain's towns and cities were stacked.

Harry glanced up at the walls around him. "The largest attacks seem to be concentrated around Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. Most likely, the Order is at those places trying to hold them off."

Sirius shook his head. "It's just a diversion. He's keeping the Order occupied there while he attacks wizarding families and muggle communities."

"I agree." Harry leaned over the table, studying the papers scattered in front of him for a moment. "We're not ready for this, but we have no choice; we go tonight."

Sirius nodded. "Arm yourself well. This is going to be a long night."

They walked through a small door off to one side, entering their armory. Weapons of all types and descriptions littered the walls, floor, and racks. Muggle firearms, swords, and knives were thrown in with spare wands and vials of explosive potions. Grenades and rocket launchers were stacked together with crates of silver bullets for fighting werewolves and tanks of Holy Water for fighting vampires.

Stealth and thievery were decidedly Marauder traits. A lucky thing, for they would never have gained all this otherwise even if they did use magic.

They made their weapon choices and geared up. Cloaked, hooded, and armed to the teeth, they hurriedly left the room and headed upstairs.

"Give me a moment," said Harry. "I've got an idea."

He rushed up to Ginny's room and pounded on her door.

She opened it after a moment, and scowled when she saw him. She tried to slam it closed again, but he shoved his foot in the way and held it open.

"Wait a second," he said quickly. "Come with me. We need your help."

Before she could reply, he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her down the stairs. She tried to squirm out of his grasp, but he just held on tighter. There were more important things at stake right now; he didn't have time to be nice.

"Let me go! Where are you taking me, and why are you dressed like that?"

Sirius stared at them, confused, as they moved past him. "Harry? What're you doing?"

Harry ignored him and pulled her down the stairs to the War Room. He let go then and said, hurriedly, "I don't have time to explain much. Voldemort is attacking and we're going to help. I need you to stay here and help us by keeping us updated."

She looked around at all the maps in the room in awe, then gave him a worried look. "I don't understand."

He walked over to the table and grabbed a couple of special long-distance communicator Sirius had designed. He handed one to her and pocketed the other. "This will allow you to speak to us where ever we are. Just press and hold the button and speak into it to reach me. I'll tell you what to do as we go along. I'm sorry I can't tell you more, but I have to go _now._"

"But," she said confusedly, as he turned to go, "Where are you going?"

He smiled thinly and gave her a small wink. "Lots of places. Gotta go."

He raced back up the stairs to find Sirius waiting for him. "I'll explain later," he told his godfather, seeing the confused look upon his face. "Let's go. We've got to get the Order and the Aurors out of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. We won't be able to help the rest of Britain on our own."

They went out the front door and circled around the side of the house to apparate. "Are you ready, Frost?" Sirius asked him.

"I think so, Padfoot. Tonight, the Marauders fight."

"Just remember, these Death Eaters have nothing but a Hogwarts education and a hate for muggles. They can cast Unforgivable Curses, and they think that makes them invincible. You are more than that, Harry. You've been trained for battle nearly your whole life, you've dueled with the Dark Lord, and you have the tools you need to get the job done. You _will_ win tonight."

Harry nodded. "I know, and I'm ready. Besides, you'll be with me. Now let's get it done." They apparated to their destination with a soft _pop._

* * *

They arrived at the entrance of Diagon Alley to complete chaos. The Order and what few Aurors that happened to be near the Alley seemed to have set up a barricade in front of the Quidditch shop, and they were holding their ground against the Death Eaters, though not by much.

Screams echoed from down the Alley where the Death Eaters were in control. Many of the buildings were on fire, and explosions and spells rang out frequently in the evening air.

Harry took a second to survey the situation, and was dismayed to see that the Death Eaters had just then organized themselves enough to make a strong push against the Alley's defenders. Pushing forward in a strong mass, their overlapping shields deflected most of the spells sent their way, leaving them to advance almost unchecked.

Death Eaters acting like a cohesive, trained unit? What was with that?

"Sirius, I've got an idea." He took a second to whisper his plan into his godfather's idea.

Sirius looked grave. "I don't know-"

"I'll be fine, Padfoot. You can't keep me from doing it."

Sirius nodded resignedly. "Alright, go ahead. I know what to do."

Harry took off running towards the defenses. Several of the defenders cried out to him to stop, but he took no mind of them and with a mighty leap, cleared the barricade.

He landed, catlike, on the street beyond, and took off running straight for the advancing enemy. Spells flew fast and furious towards him, but a Wandlessly maintained shield kept the few that could hit his weaving and dodging form at bay.

He stopped just outside the door of Flourish and Blott's, ducking behind an overturned cart of books to pull a tiny object from within the folds of his cloak.

The Death Eaters were getting closer now. Spell after spell was raining down upon his hiding place, and many of the Alley's defenders were shouting at him to come back to the protection of the barricade.

Harry ignored all of them, instead pointing his wand at the object and muttering, "_Engorgio_."

An RPG-7 Rocket Propelled Grenade Launcher swelled to its full size. Deftly, Harry loaded it with an OG-7 anti-personnel grenade and mounted it on his shoulder. He took careful aim and fired straight into the heart of the Death Eater throng.

The Death Eaters, completely ignorant of all things muggle, watched in confusion as the dangerous weapon was aimed at them. That same confusion turned to horror as the projectile fired from it ripped right through shields intended to deflect magic and detonated in their midst. Bodies and debris were spewed everywhere by the explosion and the remaining enemy forces were thrown into disarray. The overlapping shield wall collapsed, leaving them open to spells launched from the barricade, and the second part of Harry's plan came into play.

Sirius, taking the grenade's launch as his cue, urged the Alley's defenders to rush over their blockade and hit the enemy while they were confused. They did so, not knowing who the strange cloaked man was, but knowing that he was right in any case.

Before they reached the mass of Dark wizards, Harry launched one more grenade for good measure, and jumped up to join them.

The battle after this was fast and furious, but entirely one-sided. The Death Eaters were so confused and battered by this point that they hardly knew which way was up.

Just then, the rest of the Aurors from the Ministry _finally_ showed up. Most likely, the Minister hadn't believed the Alley was actually being attacked. Probably thought it was a stunt being pulled by Dumbledore in a mad push to overthrow him or something. The imbecile.

After the reinforcements showed up, it was only a matter of rounding up the few Death Eaters that did not immediately flee in terror.

Harry and Sirius were leaning against a wall, trying desperately to regain their breath, when a tall, bald, dark-skinned man in the grey-blue robes of an Auror, and a shorter, heavily scarred man with a magical eye and a wooden leg approached them. The odd pair seemed to be the leaders of the Alley's defenders, and the one with the wooden leg asked gruffly and suspiciously, "Who the hell are you two?"

"Mad-eye!" exclaimed the other angrily. "Take it easy, these two saved all our lives." He addressed Harry and Sirius politely but urgently, "Whoever you are, you have our thanks. I don't suppose you can give us your names?"

"There's no time," Harry said immediately. "Voldemort's attacking muggle communities and wizard homes all over the country. Take your people and help where you can; we're going to Hogsmeade to see if we can't help beat back the attack there and get some more help."

"Why should we-" Mad-eye started to demand, but it was too late, Harry and Sirius vanished in the blink of an eye.

They arrived a safe distance outside of the village, still trying to catch their breath from the last battle they had fought. Harry pulled the communicator from within his robes and spoke into it.

"_Ginny, are you there?"_

"_Yes! I'm here! What's happening?"_

"_The Death Eaters in Diagon Alley have been beaten but more are attacking Hogsmeade. I need you to look at the map of the village and tell me what you see._

"_Uh, it looks like there are a bunch of blue lights in one half, and red lights in the other half"_

"_Ok, I need you to look very carefully. Are there more red lights or blue lights?"_

"_There are more blue in the town, and there are a bunch of black spots moving in from the woods."_

Harry's blood ran cold. _No._

"_Is there anything else?"_

"_No, I don't think so."_

"_Thanks, Ginny, I'll call back again soon."_

He pocketed his communicator and turned to look at his godfather. "Well, it looks like there are enough Order members and Aurors to take care of the Death Eaters, but he's bringing in . . ." he paused and shivered. "Creatures, too. We have to stop them somehow."

"I think he's left the dementors in Azkaban for now, or we would've seen it on our detectors. At least we don't have to worry about that." Sirius looked up at the sky in resignation. "Full moon."

They apparated to the rear of the Death Eater lines, placing themselves between the approaching Dark creatures and the battle in the village, and right in front of the creatures. The few Death Eaters playing rear-guard saw them, but taking in their dark cloaks and hoods, took them to be some of their own and turned their attention back to the battle.

The creature horde emerged from the trees, just as Harry and Sirius were starting towards them. There weren't as many as Harry had feared, but quite enough to make his job difficult. A dozen or so werewolves, a score of vampires, and two full-grown mountain trolls.

He and Sirius paused and pulled several objects from within their cloaks, expanding them to their full sizes. Harry carried a sword and a crossbow with wooden arrows that were essentially stakes.

Sirius, on the other hand, carried a Walther PPK 7.65mm. The clips for which were loaded with silver bullets. He also carried a large water gun loaded with a special solution of Holy Water mixed with finely ground garlic.

"Leave the trolls to me, I'll leave the werewolves to you. The vampires are fair game," said Harry. "Have fun." He grinned.

"You got it, Frosty ol' boy."

With a fierce cry, they rushed into the fray.

A tall, particularly angry-looking vampire was the first creature to cross Harry's path, and a quick shot through the heart from his crossbow put him out of the game in no time. Another came soon after, but Harry's sword lashed out and separated the undead creature's head from his body.

The battle soon descended into a rhythm for Harry. He was vaguely aware of Sirius somewhere to his left, as he leapt and twirled, spun and slashed, hacked and thrust with a ferocity that stunned his foes. A werewolf managed to slash Harry's leg nearly to pieces, and tried to bite him, but Sirius put a silver bullet in his brain just in time.

Harry hardly even noticed the pain as a troll came stumping stupidly up to him, club raised to strike. He dove between its legs and Summoned a nearby fallen tree trunk to him.

Of all spells, Harry had always been most skillful at Summoning, Levitating, and Banishing, even large and heavy objects. He used this to his advantage now, maneuvering the tree trunk in between the troll he had just avoided and its partner. He hit one on the head with the trunk, and then dropped it into the other's hand.

It worked; the troll he had hit thought his companion had hit him, and struck back. Within seconds, they were beating each other senseless, and soon one was unconscious, and the other was not far from it. A single swipe from the tree trunk took care of that problem.

Harry turned back to the battle to find that Sirius was in trouble. The remaining vampires and werewolves were slowly backing him into a corner. Though he was fighting like a man possessed to keep them back, there were simply too many for one man to handle.

Harry decided it was time to test out their new prototype weapon. He pulled out what appeared to be an ordinary muggle hand grenade, yanked out the pin, and tossed it into the middle of his godfather's attackers.

A cross between muggle and magic technology, it stored a strong sunlight spell. Instead of exploding when thrown, it emitted a powerful wave of bright sunlight within a small radius. Almost completely useless except to temporarily blind opponents, this weapon could potentially be used to fantastic effect upon vampires, who turned to ash and disintegrated in sunlight.

Harry prayed it would work. It was as yet untested, and when he had chosen it from the house earlier he had hoped he wouldn't have to use it.

Fortunately, while it did not have quite the effect they'd originally hoped, it worked fairly well. Those vampires not completely vaporized by the light were severely burned, and ran off, shrieking, into the night.

That left only three more werewolves, and a few rounds from Sirius' sidearm finished them off. He sank to his knees, panting as his godson limped over to him.

"Took you long enough," gasped Sirius, weakly. "I thought you were gonna leave me to die."

"I probably should've," Harry joked; then turned more serious. "Why didn't you apparate."

"Tried. Too tired. Used up my magical reserves too fast."

They both chuckled weakly and looked towards the village. The Order had been doing so well that the Death Eaters' rear guard were too busy defending themselves to notice their allies being destroyed behind them. Harry could see Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts, leading the counterattack against the dark-cloaked and white-masked wizards.

Then something happened that made Harry and Sirius gasp in shock and dismay.

Multitudes of fresh Death Eaters were apparating all over the place, but that was not the worst. Voldemort himself had shown.

Within seconds, he and Dumbledore were engaged in a fierce one-on-one duel, while their respective forces duked it out. It was immediately obvious that both Voldemort and the headmaster were evenly matched, but without Dumbledore fighting with them, the Order and the Aurors were being overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies they faced.

Harry's mind was working furiously as he led his godfather towards the battle. Voldemort had obviously pulled a large portion of the forces he'd been sending to attack the rest of England in order to make this assault. What Harry needed was something to distract Voldemort long enough for Dumbledore to gain the upper hand.

An idea was forming in his mind, but it was risky; very risky. Not only that, there was also the fact that they'd been planning for so long, and this would ruin all of their plans. Still, he had no choice.

The specially formed and cultivated Occlumency shields around his mind – the ones that had kept his continued existence hidden from the Dark Lord – dropped like a stone, and Harry pushed himself through the link in his scar and into his enemy's head.

'_Why hello, Tom, long time no see.'_

It had exactly the effect he had hoped. Voldemort stopped in his tracks in utter shock, allowing Dumbledore to hit him with a powerful bludgeoning spell that knocked him flat.

'_Potter!'_

'_That's right, Tommy boy. Thought you'd gotten rid of me, did you? You should know by now I'm harder to kill than that.'_

'_Where are you, you insolent brat?'_

'_Right behind you.'_

Voldemort had picked himself up from the ground by this time and whirled in anger to find his young foe, disguised by hood and cloak, only a few dozen yards away.

Harry felt the mind that was his greatest enemy pushing back, thrusting towards his own mind as Voldemort stalked towards him. He tried to throw up his Occlumency shields, but it was too late. It was taking all his strength just to keep him at bay.

Dumbledore was cut off, surrounded by fighting Light and Dark wizards. Sirius jumped in front of his godson, but with a wave of his wand, Voldemort just swatted him aside like a fly.

Harry, already weak from blood loss in his leg and fighting physically and magically for so long, felt his knees collapsing as the strength required to fight the presence in his mind drained his body of energy. He sank to his knees on the ground, gasping for breath. The pain in his scar was unbearable.

Voldemort fired a bludgeoning spell that blasted him another dozen yards backwards. He lay on his back, trying feebly, desperately to regain his feet, but soon Voldemort stood over him, wand raised.

"Not so confident now, are you Potter?" he sneered. "_Crucio._"

The pain was beyond excruciating. It felt as if thousands of white-hot knives were piercing his body; as if his blood was liquid magma.

An eternity passed all at once, before the pain finally lifted, leaving Harry battered and broken. His throat was sore from the screaming he'd done under the curse.

Voldemort looked triumphant. "I've finally got you now, Potter. _Avada-_"

Voldemort's attempt to cast the Killing Curse was cut off by the sound of gunshots. Sirius, who had struggled to his feet from where he'd been thrown, emptied the rest of his clip into the Dark Lord.

Voldemort howled in pain and rage. Dumbledore was getting closer, Harry could see, and the Dark Lord apparently didn't want to fight him again in his current, wounded state.

He disappeared with a small _pop._

Sirius rushed to his godson's side. "Harry?" he cried frantically, "Are you alright?"

"Just peachy, Siri," Harry joked feebly. He was growing weaker by the second. His Occlumency shields were back in place, but it had taken everything he had just to put them back while Voldemort was distracted. It was really catching up to him now; the bludgeoning spell, the Cruciatus, all the fighting, the wound on his leg.

He heard a voice say, "I'll get you home, Frosty my boy, don't worry."

And then he knew no more.

_

* * *

Darkness. Nothing but emptiness all around him. And then it cleared; he was coming back to the light._

_Heat. It was so hot he could hardly breathe. Sweat dripped down his forehead and the sides of his face._

_Something cool and wet was being pressed against his face. His body relaxed at the contact. It continued for some time, soothing away his pain and fears._

_He drifted away again into the darkness for some time._

_He was coming back again. The darkness was dissipating, replaced with light._

_Voices. He could hear voices, arguing._

"_He should be in St. Mungo's!" cried one voice. It was soft and female; his heart lifted just hearing her speak. The reality of her words sank in. Not St. Mungo's! He couldn't go there!_

_He cried out desperately; tried to tell her that he shouldn't go there. She spoke again. He couldn't understand her words, but they were soft and soothing. He relaxed again, his fears vanishing as if they were nothing. He drifted off into the darkness again . . ._

_He was coming back once more. The light was growing nearer._

_Cold. Cold such as he had never known pervaded him. Violent shivers racked his body. Something was around him but it wasn't enough to stop the cold._

_Something warm suddenly lay next to him. Instinctively, his arms went around it, clinging to the warmth. It was soft and smooth, and he burrowed into it, drinking in the comfort and wonderful relief the warmth of it pressed against him brought._

_Something was stroking his face. He could hear a soft humming sound that soothed him. He was drifting away once more . . ._

_He was coming back again. The light was stronger this time, brighter._

_Pain. Pain such as he had never known filled him. He thrashed in agony and screamed._

_A soft sound cut through his pain. A lullaby. He could hear a lullaby. The pain receded as his mind focused on the voice singing to him._

_It was still there, not as sharp and clear, and unnoticed as his mind remained on the voice instead of the pain._

_A light touch, as of a pair of lips, was felt on his forehead. He heard someone say his name._

"_Harry."_

_He struggled mightily, determined to reach the source of that voice. He was fighting his way out of the deep slumber._

_His eyes finally opened._

"Ginny?"

* * *

AN

Wow! I got TONS of reviews for the last chapter! I'm so happy! Let's see if we can keep it up. Please leave me a review, even if it's only to say "I read it." Obviously, I like long helpful reviews the best, but I'd like to know how many people (basically) are checking out the story as well. Tell me what you think!

Ok, for those of you who've seen Black Hawk Down, the RPG-7 is the weapon the skinnies used to shoot down both Black Hawks. Obviously, they wouldn't use a OG-7 anti-personnel grenade for the movie, since it's intended for use against people, not helicopters. They would've used some other grenade.

The Walther PPK 7.65 mm. is the weapon Pierce Brosnan uses when he plays James Bond, if that helps any of you understand.

Concering the questions regarding how Hermione and Ron are friends; I decided that they have a Lily and James relationship in a manner of speaking. (no, Ron hasn't openly fancied Hermione or anything) they've hated each other the whole time they've been at Hogwarts, and then last Christmas in the middle of a huge row in the Common Room, they suddenly snogged each other's brains out. Hope that clears up a bit for y'all. I always thought if it weren't for Harry that's how things would've gone.

A lot of you were indignant towards the unnamed site on my behalf, for which I am most grateful. I appreciate your support. To answer some of your questions; no, it wasn't mugglenet, butI don't plan on attempting to put my story there either, because I know I'll get the same response as I did on the unnamed site. And I'm not going to bother trying to put this one up anywhere else anymore.

I apologize if you're not listed in the below review responses. I have a limited amount of time for this sort of thing. Remember that you have my deepest and most sincere thanks for reviewing my story!

**Kyton:** glad to hear that I'm helping with that hole. not being able to read H/G has to be the most horrible thing that can happen to a reader of fan fiction. and yes, I LOVE rain, especially when I can listen to it while I write.

And, er, Harry hasn't really had any interaction with girls his own age PER SE, but he's not a very shy person because he's been travelling all over the world, interacting with instructors and shady characters and random people on the street. Plust Sirius has trained him well to keep his cool in front of the opposite sex. I'm not going to say it in the story, but Sirius used to make him try to pick up muggle girls in the local hang-outs in every country they went to, in an effort to keep Harry from being shy and unable to interact with girls.

If you've been training for nigh onto 11 years for a battle against a superior foe, it's quite feasible that you can take on five, untrained teenagers. My karate instructor frequently shows ustechniques that can bring down a full-grown man in a single move, and he's a sixty-five year old grandfather with aroundtwelve years of experience! Harry's speed _is_ slightly enhanced by his magic, but only as a natural reaction to being a wizard that's physically trained to fight. No spells or potions or anything he's been using.

**uNople: **by her leaving him, do you mean she gets mad and escapes, he lets her go home, or she goes away and hates him forever?

**smidge:** well, it usually turns out that I send the new chapters to my beta and post them BoL, and then this story, but that doesn't mean I write them in that order. My writing is actually slightly ahead of what I post, which allows me a bit of perspective. Basically, the answer to your question has been yes until this point. I don't know if it will stay that way; it depends on how writer's block treats me.

**Silver Warrior:** oh, I'll make it frustrating, you can be sure of that. It ended with a hope for reconciliation in this chapter, and they'll doubtless make up, but I'm not going to put them together for a while. One thing I do know is that I'm not going to wait until after Voldemort's gone, as it would ruin a few important plot points concerning the Order and the Weasleys. And I'll take a look at your C2 group.

**Finbar:** because I wanted to be different, and I thought doing it that way would make things interesting. It also leaves the doubts in the Order's mind about whether Harry and Sirius are on the Light or Dark sides.

**Briea:** I go to Eastside Evangelical Fellowship. I don't know what denomination we'd beclassified under, but we've been called 'Protestant,' and we have a lot of Reformed theology, with a STRONG Calvinisticinfluence.

**brike:** I quite agree, but it'll be more complicated than that of course.

**Fayton:** there will be strong conflicts, but I can't guarantee they'll actually 'fight' over the whole thing. we'll see how it goes.

**hermione5690:** Hermione is an intelligent witch, and she knows the signs that point to an animagus. She has a sneaking suspiscion that Frost is one, but isn't sure.

**AndromedaBlack-thelesserknown: **I'm glad to hear this is one of those select few, particularly since you're one of my favorite authors of all time. Somehow I forgot to add you to my profile's favorite authors list. I'll fix that straightaway.

**vixen519: **Frost is his Marauder name, and it comes from the fact that his white and ice blue feathers remind Sirius of snow, ice, and 'frost.' hence the name

**hpgirl7777:** I've been waiting ever since the first chapter to bring up the point about Ginny not being as strong and independant, and I can't believe it's take this long to get to it. I actually wrote her this way on purpose, for some very specific reasons. I was going to write her like normal, fierce and independant self, but it occured to me that with my current timeline of events, it didn't really make sense. the things that have made her so strong (being possessed by Riddle, seeing her friends and family facing danger all the time, the Dept of Mysteries etc.) never happened. She's really more of what it would be like if Harry accidentally kidnapped Susan Bones or Padma Patil. She's just normal.

er, I don't know if that's how she's coming across, but that was my intention anyway. She gets a little more confidence and fierce pride as the fic progresses, for she will face some trying things along with Harry. anyway, that's my reasoning. oh, and in the alley, she's never been attacked before or even faced with death, and those guys were making some, er, threats. If you watch stuff like CSI or Law and Order, you can be well aware of just what sort of thing I implied. I think that facing five of them, she could've easily been backed into a corner, and keep in mind she only cried after they were chased off.

**csferosha:** she'll see them in a few chapters

**Tanydwr:** I totally agree about the grammar thing. Part of my obsession with writing is making everything sound right. When people don't even attempt to make things flow smoothly, I stop reading. It just gets too difficult to follow, even if the plot is excellent.

**Esper:** He knows quite a bit, but he's not going to use a lot of it. He'll only use the Killing Curse when facing Voldemort, as I'm not going to put anything about how using Dark Magic doesn't corrupt you into this fic. I'm already doing it in BoL.

**SeekerTLK: **middle-aged people and a few elderly people. lol. anyway, for Harry's girl skills, see above response to Kyton, it may clear up a few things.

**Lone Templar:** OMG I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my chair when I read that. awesome. can I have permission to use that?

**anss123:** glad to hear it. I'm always glad to get readers that aren't HG shippers but like it anyway.

**everpresent: **ah dang. I dunno all that much about Canada (I didn't want to use a location in the US again) and I didn't really take the time to research it. I just knew that it'd be a few hours earlier there than in England. And, er, I meant the more Eastern part of the country, since it's later there than back on the other end. my bad, I feel like an idiot.

traumatic event in this chapter work ok?

And I sorta did a mix of stereo-type and her being sneaky, because 1) I wanted them to have an argument. 2) I can't really picture Ginny as actually considering slyly trying to get him to make the first move. She just doesn't strike me as the type of person who would do that when she had no idea he likes her at all, plust they're still on relatively unstable ground in their friendship. Ginny may not exactly be a prisoner any more, but she still can't leave. She's gotta be a bit confused by all that.

Still, she is sneaky. I rather wanted her to find out through her own intelligence, then trick him into admitting it, so that's whatI did.

**Rachel A. Prongs:** By all means, enjoy away! the best powerful!Harry stories that I know of (and keep in mind, I only read H/G) are Jeconais' _This Means War, _dbzdragonlanceman's _Harry Potter and the Year of Discovery _and the sequel_ Harry Potter and the Spirit of Time_, sib-ff's _The Awakening Power_, D.Torres' _Harry Potter: Retribution,_ Warden's _The Bonded_, and KEDme's sequel to his first story (Home Alone) which is called _Shadow of the Serpent._

If I had to choose the best of those, it'd be _This Means War_and _Harry Potter: Retribution_. You can find all of the above-mentioned stories in my author profile.

and I like writing Harry not liking Dumbledore for some reason. it's really satisfying to see him lash out at all those whoshelter him too much.

**Lady FoxFire:** the site you gave me was edited out of your review. if you could drop me an email with the link, I'll be sure to check out the site.

**Marcus Lazarus:** I don't think I'll do it in this story. I admit it'd be cool and fun to see things from their point of view, but when I started writing this fic I decided to do everything from Harry's perspective. It's a little different than what I normally do, but I plan to stick with it and see how it turns out in the end.


	7. Recovery

AN

I know, I'm horrible. Honestly, I didn't mean for it to take this long. I tried . . . and tried . . . and tried to write this chapter, and the inspiration just wouldn't come. The fact that I've been busier than I've ever been in my life before didn't help (today, I caddied at the golf course from 10 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon. I still had to do school on top of that! (Homeschooled, in case that confuses you.)

The only reason that this chapter is even coming out at all right now is because of a review I got on the Sink Into Your Eyes Harry/Ginny fan fiction archive. _Full_ credit for what Harry does (and shocks Ginny by doing) goes to reviewer **White Wolf**, of SIYE. I'm not surehe/she actually meant it as a real suggestion, but I was so intrigued by the idea that I went with it. It inspired me to write the rest of the chapter. If you're confused as to what the suggestion was, check the bottom AN.

If anyone was wondering, I gave up on that one-shot challenge fic I was writing. I just don't write well trying to follow guidelines.

A huge thank you goes out to JC-S and Yavinbase, for their outstanding help.

Disclaimer: See Prologue.

* * *

Chapter 6

Recovery

"Ginny?"

His voice was dry and raspy, as though he hadn't used it for quite some time.

He had opened his eyes to find Ginny's beautiful face was hovering mere inches above his own. She appeared to have been watching him when he awoke, and her eyes opened wide in surprise.

He was struck by the image of her there, her lips parted in surprise, acting like a deer caught in the headlights. Before he even really realized what he was doing, he had tilted his head just slightly and pressed his lips to hers.

He pulled away after only a moment, horrified at his own daring and staring wide-eyed at the shell-shocked and blushing redhead, who had not moved.

"Ginny, I-I-" he stuttered.

"Harry!" a voice nearby called excitedly. Ginny jerked away from him, and Harry let out his breath in relief as Sirius came running over. His godfather had excellent timing.

Sirius knelt beside the bed in which Harry was laid, and embraced him warmly. "Great to see you're back with us, kiddo," he said.

Harry lifted his arms to hug him back, though it was difficult because they felt like lead.

He rasped out a request for water as Sirius stepped back. Ginny moved to get it for him. As she poured a glass from a pitcher resting on the nightstand, Harry took a moment to study his surroundings.

He seemed to be in some sort of large room, with two long rows of identical white-sheeted beds (in one of which he was lying) set against opposite walls. Large windows let in an enormous amount of bright, cheery sunlight.

Ginny handed him the glass, avoiding his gaze. He accepted it gratefully, sipping eagerly and letting out a sigh of relief as the cool water soothed his throat.

"Thanks," he whispered in relief. She nodded, still blushing, but refused to meet his eyes.

He turned to Sirius. "So where are we?"

Sirius grinned sheepishly. "The hospital wing of Hogwarts."

Harry's eyes widened and he tried to sit up, only to find Ginny's hands on his shoulders, pushing him back. "I don't think so," she said sternly, all embarrassment forgotten for the moment, "You lay right down. You're not moving until I say so." To his surprise, he found he didn't even have the strength to resist her gentle touch, and was easily forced onto his back.

Growling in frustration and shooting her a glare, he turned to an obviously amused Sirius and asked, "What happened? Why are we here? And why hasn't Dumbledore thrown you into the dungeons or something?"

"I believe I may be able to answer that," said a voice from the opposite end of the room.

Harry's head snapped around to find none other than Albus Dumbledore himself walking through the door of the room.

Eyes twinkling at the surprise on Harry's face, the famed headmaster of Hogwarts walked over to stand next to the young man. "Hello, Mr. Potter, I am Albus Dumbledore."

Harry kept looking to Sirius, then back to Dumbledore, then to Ginny, and finally back to Sirius again. He groaned, feeling a headache coming on. "I don't understand."

Dumbledore laughed. "That is to be expected. Allow me to help you. After you lost consciousness near Hogsmeade, the Order and I were able to reach your godfather before he could escape with you. We brought you here, and locked him up temporarily." He shook his head in amazement. "I must say I was surprised when I learned who it was that had come to our rescue, since I was under the impression that Sirius was Voldemort's most loyal supporter. Imagine my thoughts when it hit me that your godfather actually _shot_ his supposed 'master.'

"Of course I at once came to the conclusion that we must've been mistaken in some way all those years ago, so I went to Sirius and asked him for his side of the story. After verifying it with Veritaserum, there was really no need to hold him prisoner any more, and he was released. Soon after, he confessed that it was the two of you who had taken young Miss Weasley, and left to bring her here."

Harry sat there for a moment, trying to take it all in. "How long was I out?" he finally asked.

The other three exchanged glances. "Two weeks," said Dumbledore.

Harry was flabbergasted. Two weeks? "How is that possible?" he stuttered.

"Harry," said Sirius slowly, "You completely drained every drop of magic from your body. Because of this, you weren't able to heal as quickly as you ordinarily would have. The nurse tried to use some healing charms, but because your magic was gone, your body reacted badly to them. She was only able to put a few minor ones on you every day."

He shot an amused smile over to Ginny. "Ginny's hardly even left your side since she got here. She's been helping Madame Pomfrey take care of you through everything." He pointed to the next bed over, which was unmade as though it had been slept in. "She even slept in here."

"She did?" Harry asked. He suddenly remembered that Ginny hadn't been speaking to him before the night of the battle. He was about to say something about it to her, but Sirius started talking again.

"Yep. Ate her meals in here and everything. Madame Pomfrey tried to make her leave a few times, but she's a damn stubborn young woman. Didn't want to leave you for anything." He winked. "She even hopped right in bed with you when you got the chills."

Harry glanced over to Ginny to find her blushing wildly once again and looking at the floor. Unable to think of anything intelligent to say, he simply whispered, "Thanks," and put his hand over hers on top of his blankets.

Her blush deepened, but she looked up at him almost defiantly, as though daring him to say something more. Harry resolved to try to talk to her about their fight when they were alone again.

He turned back to Dumbledore. "What about Voldemort? What's been happening?"

Dumbledore looked grave. "It's not going very well. He hasn't done anything on the scale of two weeks ago, but he's done smaller attacks virtually every night. The Order's been trying to help, but we're stretched thin as it is, and the Minister's holding up the Aurors."

He gave Harry a long, searching look. "Mr. Potter, I haven't talked to Sirius very much, since he insisted he wanted to wait for you, but I do have an offer to make the two of you." He paused for a moment, glancing briefly at Sirius, before saying very seriously, "I would like to extend the offer to both of you to join the Order of the Phoenix. That's re-joining for you, of course, Sirius."

Harry and Sirius were both surprised by this, and Harry asked, "Have you told them about us?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "Only I and two others know that the two of you were the ones to help us two weeks ago, and I have not told them that I've asked you to join us."

Seeing their looks, he said, "Shall I give you two a moment to think about it? I'm certain it'd be quite a change for you both."

They both nodded, and he backed away and headed to the office of the school nurse to tell her Harry had awakened. Ginny, after a brief glance at the two of them, followed.

"What do you think, Siri?" Harry asked, once they were alone.

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know. My first instinct is to say no, we'll do fine on our own, but . . ." he trailed off and shrugged again. "He _did_ finally come around to believing my story, and he allowed you to stay here to be healed. I know _I_ wouldn't have been able to save you. Even as it was, we almost had to take you to St. Mungo's, which we're not ready for. The public would know you're alive."

Harry nodded, taking all this in; then frowned. "And we didn't do so fine on our own against Voldemort. Of course, we didn't expect him to come out himself so soon, but working with Dumbledore may be the only way to end it."

"True," Sirius admitted.

Harry weighed it over in his mind for a few minutes. An idea started to form. "Okay, here's what I think," he said, "We should join, but we have to convince Dumbledore to change a few things. The Order wasn't doing so well when we got to the Alley and Hogsmeade. Maybe using muggle technology like we did would be just the extra boost they need. I haven't been able to train so much with magic, but you and I know loads about fighting with muggle weaponry." He paused for a second, considering it, then went on, "We should propose a trade. We train them to fight with muggle weapons, and Dumbledore trains me to fight with magic. If we combine the two effectively . . ."

He trailed off, letting the point sink in. Sirius face was soon sporting a comprehending smile.

"It just might work, Harry, but we'll have to talk to the headmaster some more to see what he says."

Harry nodded. "He seems reasonable enough. Let's hope he goes for it."

Sirius grinned suddenly. "So, you and Ginny were awful close when I walked in. What was that all about?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Harry blushed, and Sirius eagerly pulled up a chair. "Ooh, this looks juicy. Do tell."

Harry blushed harder. "I, well, I-" he stuttered. Finally, he whispered, "I kissed her."

Sirius' grin went from ear to ear. "Way to go, Frost!" he exclaimed happily, patting Harry's shoulder in congratulations.

Harry groaned and laid his head back, staring at the ceiling in frustration. "I don't know what came over me, Paddy. I woke up, and she was there, leaning over me, and I just . . . kissed her." He groaned again. "She just stood there, I don't even know what she was thinking. I'm such an idiot."

Sirius laughed. "Don't worry, Harry, I'm sure the only thing on her mind was, 'Why did he stop?' She does like you, after all."

"How do you know that?" Harry demanded. "I told you, all she said was that she had a crush on me before she met me, and that she was confused about me now-"

"Harry!" Sirius interrupted, stopping his godson's rambling. "I wasn't talking about what she told you when you were Frost, I was talking about what I see for myself." He laid his hand on Harry's shoulder and said, very seriously, "Harry, from the first time I saw you two walk into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place together, I could tell you were both completely smitten with each other. It was obvious, like you had neon signs over your heads proclaiming it or something."

He motioned to the bed that had been Ginny's for the last two weeks. "If you need more evidence, just look over there. That girl spent the last two weeks right there every night, and in that chair by your bed during the day. She only left your side when absolutely necessary, eventelling Dumbledore not to let her family know where she was, because she wanted to stay with you and make sure you were alright first. If that doesn't tell you something about how she feels about you . . ." He trailed off.

"Harry." He took Harry's face in his hands and stared him straight in the eyes. "As your godfather, I'm telling you that you need to tell that girl how you feel."

Harry swallowed. Ginny had really done that? And all for him? Was Sirius right? He didn't know what to think. He suddenly remembered something. "She's still mad at me over Frost."

Sirius shook his head. "She's always going to be mad at you over something, particularly since she's a redhead. It was the same way with your mum and dad. She was always pissed off at him for something. The main thing is to not let that stand in your way. Make it up to her, apologize, give her some flowers, get down on your knees and beg for mercy, but _don't give up._"

Harry swallowed again. "Thanks, Siri. I'm glad I have you to go to for advice," he said sincerely.

* * *

Soon after this, Dumbledore came back, followed closely by Ginny and the school nurse, Madame Pomfrey.

The latter was soon bustling about Harry's bed, waving her wand over him and introducing herself at the same time, much to his amusement.

After a few minutes, she said to Dumbledore, "He's healing up quite nicely, but it'll still be some time before he can get out of bed. He has to regain his strength."

"Will he be able to move before the students arrive?" Dumbledore asked. "They'll notice him immediately if he's still here."

She sighed. "I'm afraid not. It'll be at least two weeks before he's strong enough to stand. The student body arrives in only six days."

Harry was starting to get irritated that they were talking as if he wasn't there. "Hello?" he asked. They turned to him. "Professor, have you by any chance seen Sirius' family home?"

Sirius interrupted. "No he hasn't. I went there to get Ginny and bring her here, but you're the Secret Keeper, so I couldn't take him."

Harry nodded in understanding. "If I may suggest, Professor, why don't we just move me there? I can stay in my own room. It's probably better that way anyway, though I don't see what all the fuss is about. I'll be running around in no time."

"You most certainly will not!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed indignantly. "You're forbidden from attempting to even blink for at least two weeks, unless I say otherwise."

"Poppy," said Dumbledore quietly, and she turned to look at him. "Can he be moved?"

She thought for a moment. "I don't see why not. He can't be moving himself, but there's no harm in him being moved. So long as he's somewhere I can check up on him frequently, it's alright with me."

Dumbledore thanked her, and she walked off, saying something about a Dreamless Sleep potion. The professor then gave Harry a quick nod, saying, "We'll talk more about this tomorrow, Mr. Potter. For now, get some rest. I'll talk to your godfather about your decision regarding the Order."

"Alright."

Dumbledore left, and Madame Pomfrey returned with a large goblet of an aqua-colored liquid. "I want you to drink all of this," she said sternly. "You need restful sleep to recover as quickly as possible. Miss Weasley, I expect you to make sure he does."

Ginny nodded determinedly and took the goblet from the nurse. She turned to the bed and with her eyes dared Harry to try and get out of drinking it.

Harry swallowed nervously, and Sirius chuckled. "Better watch out, Harry," he said, "It doesn't look like she's willing to take no for an answer."

He got up and patted Harry's shoulder one more time. "See ya tomorrow, kiddo."

Then he was gone, and it was just the two teens. Harry smiled weakly at her, wondering if now was the time to talk. "Ginny-"

She interrupted him, shoving the goblet under his nose and saying, "No talking. Drink up."

He had no choice but to drink. He grimaced, expecting the horrible taste that usually accompanied potions such as this. He drained it and found, to his surprise, that it actually tasted quite nice. A little bit like cinnamon and-

He concentrated, trying to figure out what the other flavor it tasted like was. He was exhausted. He shook himself. Cinnamon and what?

He was so sleepy. He'd just close his eyes for a moment . . .

* * *

Consciousness returned slowly. Harry burrowed farther into his pillow and sighed. Sirius would be in any moment to wake him up for training-

He nearly sat up in surprise as the memories came rushing back to him, and he realized he wasn't at Grimmauld Place at all, but instead in the hospital wing of Hogwarts. It was apparently still night, for there was very little light in the room, and no one was around. He could see the moon through one of the nearby windows

His slight movement and sharp intake of breath alerted Ginny, who swept back her own covers and leapt from her bed to rush to his side.

She knelt down on the side of his bed and took his hand. "What's wrong, Harry?" she asked anxiously.

"Nothing," he whispered, embarrassed both by his moment of panic and by the fact that the nightgown she wore was just a little too short for her. It had given him a nice view of her long, smooth legs before she knelt down. He hurriedly shook the thought away. "Just forgot where I was for a second is all."

"Oh." She made to move away.

He gripped her hand as tightly as he could manage. "Don't go." She stopped and looked at him questioningly. "Just . . . stay with me for a few minutes?"

She complied, settling down on the edge of bed, one of her legs tucked under her and the other dangling off the side.

They sat that way, in an uncomfortable silence, avoiding each other's eyes, for a few minutes.

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Harry decided to try to apologize for the whole Frost thing.

"Ginny?" she looked up at him expectantly. "Um, look, I really wanted to apologize for that whole thing with Frost."

She didn't reply, just sat there staring at him with an unreadable expression on her face.

He went on. "I really did mean to tell you – you can ask Sirius if you don't believe me. I felt so guilty about the whole thing, especially after you said you wanted to be friends . . ." he trailed off. "I'm sorry, I never meant for things to get so complicated."

She stared for another long moment; then let out a sigh. "Sirius told me about you coming to him, so I know you're telling the truth already."

Harry blinked. Why hadn't Sirius just told him that?

"I still feel a little betrayed," she went on, and he hung his head, "But I'm not really angry any more. I know you didn't mean to take it so far."

"I'm sorry," he said again, placing his hand on hers. She nodded in understanding, and they sat that way for a while. The silence was less uncomfortable this time.

After a moment, Ginny spoke up again. "There's one thing I want to know, though." Harry looked up curiously, so she continued. "Why did you kiss me?" Her face flushed, but she held his gaze firmly.

Harry spluttered for a moment, his face reddening to the shade of a beat. "I . . . I don't . . . know," he stuttered.

"Don't give me that," she said sternly, glaring at him. "I want to know the truth."

He spluttered some more, before he finally managed to whisper. "I wanted to."

Her eyes widened. She trembled a little, but she asked, "Why?"

"I-" He tried to say it, but the words wouldn't seem to come out. Why was it so bloody hard? Sirius' voice echoed through his mind. _Tell her how you feel._ He steeled himself. "I think I . . . fancy you. I know it's silly of me, and it's alright if you don't feel the same way."

He braced himself for whatever her reaction might be.

She sat in shocked silence for a moment, a slow blush creeping up her neck and face. "Sirius was right," she whispered.

He hadn't expected _that._ "_What?_" he asked incredulously.

"S-Sirius told me you liked me," she stuttered. "I didn't believe him." She stared at him and asked, "Do you really think it's silly to like me?"

"Well . . . no. I guess I just thought _you'd_ think it was silly. Falling for the girl I'd kidnapped." _May as well tell her everything. _"I think you're brilliant, and fun to be around, and beautiful, and well frankly I wonder how it would be possible to _not_ fancy you." He was starting to ramble now, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. The words just kept tumbling out. "I wasn't going to tell you, but Sirius insisted and then you made me and I'm sure you don't feel the . . . mmphh." He was interrupted in mid-speech by her lips over his own, and he made a startled sound in the back of his throat.

She had tried several times to interrupt his ramble, but couldn't seem to get a word in. Finally, she had simply leaned forward and kissed him.

After the initial shock, his mind seemed to go blank, and he returned the kiss. While slightly longer than their first, it still only lasted a few short moments, before Ginny pulled away and looked at him.

Her face was flushed with embarrassment, but there was also a small, satisfied smirk playing at the corners of her mouth, as if – though a little shocked at her own daring – she was quite pleased with herself.

He started to speak, but she placed her small hand on his lips.

"Shh," she whispered. "I want to tell you something. I . . . think I fancy you too."

Her newfound straightforwardness astonished him. In all the time they'd known each other, she'd always been rather shy and timid, with an occasional explosion that belied her fiery temper.

Yet here she had kissed him, then told him quite boldly that she fancied him. He supposed it was a sign that she had finally completely opened up to him. The barriers erected when they were simply kidnapper and captive – already weakened from the close moments they'd shared and the agreement to be friends – had finally crumbled.

He tried to say something again, but she shook her head firmly. "I talked to Sirius once, while you were unconscious. I'm not sure how he did it, but he convinced me to talk about how I felt about you. He told me you felt the same way . . ." She trailed off for a moment. "He wanted me to tell you, but I didn't really believe him."

Sirius had told her? 'That manipulative, lying, scheming sneak!' he thought to himself fondly. Old Paddy had arranged the whole thing no doubt, knowing they couldn't take keeping it a secret for long.

He didn't know whether to thank his godfather or beat the crap out of him.

He decided to think about that later, concentrating on the redhead next to him. She was watching him intently. He suddenly wanted to kiss her again, but couldn't seem to muster the strength.

He growled in frustration, cursing his own weakness. Ginny cocked her head to the side in confusion at the sound.

"What?" she asked, looking a little apprehensive. He wondered what she was afraid of.

"I can't get to you," he grumbled. "Too bloody tired."

"Oh," she thought about it for a moment. "Should I let you sleep?"

"No!" he exclaimed, as loud as he could manage. Then quieter, "I want to talk about this. I also want-" He stopped short, flushing a little. "Never mind that." He gave her a searching look. "I've never been in a relationship before. I think that's what we're leading up to, isn't it?" She nodded a little slowly, thinking it over. He continued. "I don't want to ruin our friendship, Gin, if something goes wrong. Let's just . . . be careful and see what happens. Rushing into it would be a bad idea."

"I've never really been a real relationship either," she whispered. "You're right, let's just take it easy." She leaned forward and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. It was little more than a peck, staying true to their agreement to be careful, but it was a promise of many more to come.

Harry yawned, causing Ginny to giggle. "You should go back to sleep," she said.

"Mmmm," he mumbled. "Don't want to. Want to stay awake with you."

She giggled again; thenquietly lifted the covers off his bed and slid in next to him. "I'll stay with you, just 'til you drop off," she whispered, putting her arms around him.

Harry started to panic at first, and he couldn't help but think that this didn't exactly constitute taking it easy or slow, but she was so warm and soft as he wrapped his arms around her. . .

He supposed as long as she only stayed until he fell asleep, they were still being careful.

"Ginny?" he murmured against her shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Is your family going to kill me?"

Her soft laughter was the last thing he heard before he drifted off.

* * *

AN 

er, if you're wondering, the thing White Wolf suggested was that he kiss her, only he/she suggested he reach up from a stretcher anddo itor something. So I had him do it from the hospital bed. I thought it was a rather hilarious moment, actually.

Personally, I don't particularly like the way most of this chapter came out. It was too short, itcame across asslapped together, and I couldn't seem to tie all the loose ends together properly. That said, I hope you enjoy it anyway, and leave me lots of lovely reviews.

A thought just occured to me when I typed that (no, seriously, it did.) I can use this as a reason for all of you to review. Just look what happend to White Wolf! You could be the reason I get a new chapter out! Okay, I'm just messing with you, but in all seriousness, please review for me. As always, please do it even if just to say, 'I read it.'

A lot of you wondered about Moody seeing through their cloaks. I confess, in all honesty, that the thought had not occured to me. I was a bit hung up on the action bits (love action . . .). The problem fixes itself, however, in that the cloaks had numerous charms and such spells placed on them, to conceal their identities (I mean face it, you can't stay hooded in amelee for long). I know I didn't point it out specifically, but it was sorta implied. Thanks to all of you who brought this to my attention.

Incidentally, the reviews overwhelmingly chose for me to go all the way to Voldemort's defeat, so that's what I'm going to do.

Next chapter, Harry recovers fully (as he and Ginny explore their relationship), and discusses new plans with Dumbledore. I might stick the part where Harry meets the Weasleys in there as well, but only if it fits. I want to do that part correctly, even more than Harry and Ginny getting together. It promises to be an explosive event, one I'm sure you're all eagerly looking forward to.

Review responses:

**Briea: **I'd do that, but JC-S would kill me. I can hide from all you guys,but he's threatened to cut my throat in my sleep if I don't make the Weasley meeting soon. And of course, they can't stay utterly hostile to him for long, he's way too nice a guy...

In all seriousness, I think that's a really great idea, but I've already got what I want to happen planned.

**Miss Ginny:** that's the thing about the nameless site. There's no email where you can contact the administrators and tell them exactly what reasoning is behind the fic. They just tell you to get a few more beta readers and re-submit. If I did that, I'd have a few less spelling errors and I'd **still** get rejected. The reviewers emailing thing is intriguing though. I don't think I'll do it (it's a pain to update this story on three sites as it is) but the mental picture of spamming the site with protests that your idea sparked was rather funny.

**been:** Muse? Is that a person? Er, I got this idea brainstorming with my brother though, not from another book or fic, if that's what you're asking.

**SeekerTLK:** Thanks. And I chose the PPK because it was the first thing that popped into my head. Once I'd chosen it, I found it's quite easy to get pictures and info on it, since Bond made it famous. Admittedly, Sirius seems more the type to go with something bigger and badder.

oooh, maybe I should give themAK-47s? Now _that_ would be interesting.

**blue3ski:** Thanks, and no problem. Welcome aboard the S.S. Orange Crush.

**wvchemteach:** True, it was a little odd Ginny didn't try to escape. I did it on purpose because, well she's already got some strong feelings for Harry, so she's sort of torn between leaving and staying. Plus there's the whole, "Voldemort will kill you" factor.

Do you really think they'd still consider him a horrible kidnapper/Death Eater after he killed Voldemort? True, they still wouldn't be quite happy with what he did, but he'd explain he did it for her own safety, plus he's the Dark Lord defeater...

Ok, I gotta say, the idea of Harry and Ginny on the run together sounds like SO much fun. The only thing is killing off Sirius. I kinda like him alive (curse you JK!) because he's one of my favorite characters. Maybe I'll write another story after this one where they run off together, or get chased off together. That'd be an intriguing thing to attempt to pull off.

**weselan:** Remus doesn't really know about them yet, he's just sorta off in the background, a member of the Order. Don't worry though, Marauder reunion coming up!

**uNople:** Indeed, I rather like it when they're at least a little sensible, as well. They always say to new couples 'Never go to sleep angry with each other. Work it out before you go to bed.'

This rings true in all the H/G fics where our two lovebirds fight a lot.

**Danjo210:** Using only magic strikes me as being a close-minded thinker (not talking about you, it's different when you're a reader, I am speaking purely about wizard-kind themselves.). Wizards often seem to make the mistake of failing to think outside the box, something I'm trying to make clear, Sirius and Harry won't do.

I don't intend to offend you, and I'm not calling you close-minded (far from it, sometimes I like a good fic where they don't throw all that muggle weapon nonsense in there)

**Marcus Lazarus:** I've seen Van Helsing actually, but I'd forgotten that part. Odd. I do confess, though, that the idea for the grenade came from a television show (Stargate SG-1). The Jaffa used this Sonic Grenade to knock out several enemies, and when it sets off, this bright flash of light seems to come out. I thought this'd be really cool to use against vampires. Far from original, all the same.


	8. Home Again

AN

Whoo! This one came out rather fast. Don't worry BoL fans, I'm not giving up on that story, I've just got a nasty bit of writer's block on it, so I'm writing this while the muse sticks with me.

This chapter's pretty short, but I've still got the Weasley family confrontation coming up, and that's next chapter, as well as the first Order meeting and the reunion with Remus. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a long chapter, and I've already started on it.

Huge thank you goes out to JC-S and Yavin, for their outstanding help and support.

Disclaimer: see prologue

* * *

Chapter 7

Home Again

The next morning, Harry awoke to find himself alone in the hospital wing. He supposed Ginny had left either after he fell asleep the night before, or early in the morning.

Just as he started wondering where she'd gotten off to, his stomach let out an enormous rumble, reminding him he hadn't eaten at all when he'd woken up the day before.

As if in answer to his thoughts, Ginny came through the double doors just then, bearing a tray of bacon, eggs, toast, and two glasses of pumpkin juice.

"Hey," she said cheerfully, flashing him her most brilliant smile. "Thought you might be hungry, so I went down to the kitchens and scrounged up a few things."

Harry could feel his mouth beginning to water at the smell of freshly-fried bacon and scrambled eggs. "Thanks," he said hastily, as she set the tray down on his lap.

He handed her one of the two plates set upon it, then dug into his own with gusto. After only a few eager bites, a soft giggle distracted him.

He turned to where Ginny was seated in a chair by his bed, his fork pausing halfway to his mouth. She had her hand over her mouth, trying to stifle her laughter. "What?" he asked self-consciously.

Forcing herself to calm down, she replied, "I was just thinking that you're acting like my brother Ron."

He grunted, knowing very well it was an insult from the various stories she'd told him about her family. He decided not to dignify the comment with a retort, and went back to his own food.

Once he was finished, he eyed Ginny's half-finished plate hungrily.

She smiled and shook her head ruefully. "You really are as bad as him. Go ahead, I'm finished." She handed him her plate.

He held her eye for a moment, making certain she really didn't want any more. She nodded, and he couldn't control it any more. He dug in again, hungrily.

When both plates were empty, he set them aside and leaned back, sighing contentedly. "I can't believe I was so hungry," he said.

"Well it's been quite some time since you last ate," Ginny replied, laughing.

They lapsed into silence, each unsure of what to say or how to act regarding their new relationship.

After a few moments, exasperated at himself, Harry patted the bed next to him. "C'mere, Gin."

She complied, settling herself down next to him hesitantly. He put one arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him, and she stiffened immediately. She soon relaxed, however, melting into him and resting her head on his shoulder.

"We shouldn't be awkward about this," said Harry, trying to quell the nervous butterflies that seemed intent on eating his stomach from the inside out. "We have nothing to be embarrassed about or ashamed of. Let's try not to be uncomfortable, okay?"

"Okay, Harry," she murmured, smiling up at him.

The silence was more comfortable this time, as they simply sat and enjoyed one another's presence. Harry decided to bring up the subject of her family again, after a few minutes.

"Gin, about your family . . ."

"No," she stated firmly, fixing her stern gaze on him. "I know what you're going to say, and I refuse. I'm not leaving you until you're well. I'll go and see them when you can come with me."

"Now that'll be a fun meeting," Harry muttered with a grimace.

She smiled encouragingly and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry; I don't intend to let my family kill my new boyfriend." As soon as she said it, she clamped a hand over her mouth and flushed red with embarrassment. She tried to scoot away from him, but he just held on to her tighter.

"Ginny," he said warningly, "We agreed that we'd try to overcome this awkwardness. You have no reason to be embarrassed. I'd love to be your boyfriend, and I hope you want to be my girlfriend. That's basically what we said last night, only without any specific titles."

She relaxed again as he spoke, leaning on him once more. "Okay, I like the idea of you introducing me as 'your girlfriend,' I just wasn't sure if it was too soon to say something like that."

A smile reassured her that it wasn't, and he returned to the original subject of conversation. "Anyway, as I was saying, I don't think even you can stop all_ eight_ of the other members of your family from attacking me."

There was silence for a short minute, as she considered this. Eventually, she shrugged. "That's true. I suppose Professor Dumbledore will have to come with us to explain things to them."

Harry felt better after she said that. The Weasleys had seemed to place a lot of trust in Dumbledore. Perhaps the aging headmaster would be able to diffuse the situation if it got out of hand.

The conversation turned to less disturbing things then, as Harry and Ginny sat and talked about everything and nothing, content to simply enjoy being together for a time.

Madame Pomfrey came in around mid-morning, ordering Ginny off the bed so she could force several potions down Harry's throat.

After informing them that Professor Dumbledore was busy and would drop by to see them again that afternoon, she reminded Harry in no uncertain terms that was _not_ to attempt to leave his bed or overexert himself in any way.

With a last suspicious glare, she returned to her office, leaving Ginny to clamber back onto the bed with Harry.

They were still sitting that way when Sirius walked in a short time later, looking like he'd just gotten out of bed. Which, Harry reminded himself, he probably had, since they hadn't seen him all morning.

Sirius was dragging his feet a bit, blinking slowly in the bright light that shone through the many large windows. When he spotted them sitting so close together on the bed, however, all trace of weariness vanished.

"You two look cozy," he said, as he walked quickly over to the foot of the bed, smirking. "When did that happen?"

Ginny flushed, but Harry glared at his godfather. "You should know, you meddling old man," he said.

"I'm not old. I'm only thirty-six," Sirius replied, trying to feign hurt. His smug smile gave him away. "I thought I was rather clever, actually."

"Clever? Sure," Harry said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "You're lucky I'm feeling really happy right now. Even as it is, I'm trying to decide whether or not to hex you so hard you won't remember if you're Padfoot or Sirius." He tried to hold it, he really did, but finally, the smile spread across his face.

"Thanks, Paddy," he said sincerely. Sirius, who had paled a little at what he perceived as Harry's inheritance of Lily's temper, grinned back and walked forward to pull the both of them into a hug.

"I'm so happy for you two," he said brightly. He released them. "Be good to each other. Ginny, I want you to resist the urge to murder him when he's being a prat, and Harry, remember that the man is _always_ wrong, especially when he's with a redhead. James learned that early on."

With that bit of sincere advice, he shot them a mischievous wink. "And keep in mind that I'm going to be wanting grand-godchildren some day."

"SIRIUS!" Harry shouted, horrified, as both he and Ginny blushed furiously. Now he _was_ going to get revenge for _that._ The minute his magical reserves were completely restored and he could get out of bed, Sirius was in for it.

Sirius, on the other hand, just cackled merrily at their discomfort.

* * *

Professor Dumbledore arrived shortly after the three of them had eaten lunch. 

"Well, Mr. Potter," he said cheerfully, "Your godfather tells me the two of you have decided to accept my offer, but you have a suggestion." His eyes twinkled, as they glanced briefly at Sirius before returning to Harry. "Though he wanted you to make it, as it was apparently your idea."

"Do you want me to go for a bit?" Ginny whispered in Harry's ear. He shook his head.

"I trust you," he whispered back, "I'd rather you knew about all of this." He looked again at Dumbledore, considering his words carefully.

"Things weren't going well when we got to Diagon Alley," he said to the headmaster. "They were a little better at Hogsmeade because you were there, but once Voldemort showed up with reinforcements, things immediately went downhill.

"I think a change in tactics is in order. You've tried fighting them with magic already, and it hasn't worked so well. I suppose you've been told of what happened at the Alley?" Dumbledore nodded, so he went on. "So you know then how effective muggle weapons can be, if they're combined with magic. Obviously, carrying around a grenade launcher can be difficult. But if you shrink it, you can easily carry dozens of weapons for all sorts of situations – stopping a Dark Lord with a few bullets, for instance.

"Sirius and I have had problems with magic. Neither of us is very knowledgeable about the more advanced types of magic, so we've come to depend more upon the muggle world. I propose that we help each other out in this regard. Sirius and I will train the rest of the Order to combine muggle technology with their magic, and you train me in the more advanced and difficult magic. You're going to need it to fight the Death Eaters, and I'm going to need you if I have any hope of defeating Voldemort."

The only outward change on the professor's face at the input of this large amount of information was an increase in the twinkling in his eyes.

"How extensive is your knowledge of magic?" he asked curiously.

"Not nearly enough; somewhat more than a graduate of Hogwarts, perhaps."

"Yes," Dumbledore mused. "Not nearly enough to face a powerful wizard such as Lord Voldemort. I must say I'm quite surprised you're so practical and straightforward about this. I should think one so young would be a little more scared of what's to come."

"I've had a while to get used to it," Harry replied, shrugging. "I've been fighting him for a while, even before Sirius told me about the Prophecy."

A chuckle escaped the headmaster's lips, and he smiled. "The fact that he even knew about it was also a surprise, thought I suppose it should not have been. Your father and godfather always did share everything. Practically brothers, in all but blood." He reminisced for a moment longer; then seemed to mentally snap himself out of it.

"That was quite a proposal, Mr. Potter," he said, still smiling. "I shall have to give it a great deal of serious thought. There can be no doubt that you and Sirius were both instrumental in maintaining the safety of the wizarding community two weeks ago, and your tactics and armament were certainly unexpected and effective. When you are well enough to attend your first Order meeting, I shall introduce you and your godfather, and then perhaps you can present your idea to everyone – after we deal with the chaos that will no doubt come from seeing the two of you, of course.

"In the meantime, I think we should consider how we are going to relocate you to your godfather's house without incurring Madame Pomfrey's wrath. It's under the Fidelius Charm, correct?'

"Right," Harry confirmed. "I'm the secret keeper."

"Excellent. I think the only two people you need to inform of the location will be myself and Madame Pomfrey – who will be wanting to check up on you almost constantly.

"Poppy!" he called, just loud enough to be heard in the hospital's adjoining office.

Madame Pomfrey's head poked out of the doorway. "Yes, Albus?"

"Mr. Potter needs to inform us of the location of his home."

When she was close enough for him to hear, Harry said, with a slight wink, "The Marauder's Mansion can be found at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London."

The twinkle in the headmaster's eye increased tenfold. "An interesting name," he commented.

"His idea," Harry grumbled, jerking a thumb in Sirius' direction. "I don't like it.

"So, how are we getting there?" he asked, returning to the matter at hand.

"I'm making you a portkey," Sirius cut in. "Since Professor Dumbledore hasn't been there yet. We'll all go with you together."

"Absolutely not!" Madame Pomfrey sputtered indignantly. "I refuse to allow it! He's not ready for rough travel like portkeys!"

"It's alright, Poppy," Dumbledore said calmly, "We won't use a portkey if you say it's not safe."

"Then how am I going to get there?" Harry asked, confused.

"I'm not sure," Dumbledore replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I must confess I had not expected for you to be unable to travel by portkey."

Silence descended upon the group, as they each tried to come up with a solution to the problem. After several long moments, someone spoke up.

"I think I have an idea."

Dumbledore, Harry, Sirius, and Madame Pomfrey turned in surprise to the redhead on the bed with her boyfriend, for it was she who had spoken.

"What is it, Gin?" Harry asked. She had been silent up to this point, and he was curious to know what she had come up with that the rest of them hadn't thought of.

She looked a little shy about sharing her idea in the presence of adults and Harry, but he smiled at her encouragingly, and she seemed to gather her courage before answering in a steady voice. "What if you just turn the bed into a portkey? He won't get jostled around or fall that way."

Three mouths dropped, and one pair of eyes twinkled merrily.

"What an excellent idea, Miss Weasley," said Dumbledore mildly, seemingly incapable of showing surprise.

"That's my girlfriend," Harry whispered proudly into her ear before giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. She blushed prettily at all the attention and the kiss, ducking her head meekly.

"Is it alright?" Harry asked Madame Pomfrey respectfully. He knew it was up to her to decide what he could and couldn't do, and thought it was best to ask her and attempt to stay on her good side.

"I think that will be acceptable," she replied. "But we shall have to switch you over to another bed once you're there, as I'll be needing this one back.

Turning to Sirius, Harry waved his hand impatiently. "C'mon, Paddy, let's get a move on!"

"Alright, alright," he grumbled back, drawing his wand. "Have patience, Frosty. _Portus._"

The entire bed glowed blue for a few seconds and trembled slightly.

"Ten seconds, put a hand on everyone," ordered Sirius. They all complied, ensuring that they were touching some part of the bed at least marginally. Sirius started counting down. "Three . . . two . . . one . . ." And they were gone in a whirlwind of color and sound.

When they landed, they found themselves inside Harry's bedroom of Grimmauld Place.

After everyone had examined their surroundings, Ginny clambered out of the bed to allow the headmaster to levitate Harry to his own four-poster.

Once he was settled, Madame Pomfrey gave Harry another good check-over with her wand, and declared that he should sleep for a while yet, as it would help him to heal faster.

Now that she had mentioned it, he _was_ feeling rather tired. He'd done quite a bit of talking since he'd woken up that morning.

"You should show them around the house, Siri," he said to his godfather.

The three adults left then, Sirius leading the way. When they were gone, Ginny came over and knelt down beside the bed, tucking the covers around him and making him feel like a small child.

"You don't need to do that," he grumbled.

"I like taking care of you," she retorted, ignoring his complaining. She glanced around the room, taking in the chaos that indicated a teenage boy occupied it. "I've never been in here. It's messy." She wrinkled her nose at him, which he thought was rather cute.

"Shut it, you," he yawned and smiled at her.

"Go to sleep now," she whispered.

"Okay." He yawned again. "I hope I get my magic back soon. I want to make Sirius pay for that comment earlier."

She blushed a little at the reminder, but a devious smile lit up her face. "Can I help?"

"Sure."

Her cool hand was suddenly on his face, brushing aside the fringe of his hair. His eyes drifted closed at the contact, and he was suddenly grateful she had pulled the covers up around him. It was a lot more comfortable that way . . .

He drifted off with a slight smile on his face.

* * *

Ginny was with him almost constantly for the next three weeks. 

He did a lot of sleeping, but each time he awoke, she was there, with a potion or something from Madame Pomfrey. Though he would never admit it aloud, Harry was quite enjoying Ginny playing nursemaid to him. As Sirius put it one day, what kind of guy _wouldn't_ enjoy a pretty girl taking care of him and his every need?

They spent most of his waking hours talking, or playing card games, or Harry's personal favorite . . . snogging.

He still felt guilty about the situation with her family, so he tried several times to get her to go and see them, but she was adamant. She refused to leave his side until he was well and could come with her.

She slept on a small bed in the corner at night, ready to rush to his side if he needed anything. Madame Pomfrey had strongly objected to this, but Professor Dumbledore had simply smiled a knowing smile and transfigured a chair into a bed for her.

"It's quite alright, Poppy," he had said, "Harry's too weak to try anything yet." Then he had left with a small wink to their blushing faces.

Within only a week of arriving, Harry was taking his first tentative steps since the battle, and by the time three weeks had passed, his strength had returned and he was walking normal again, thanks to the return of his full magical powers.

When Madame Pomfrey pronounced him fit enough, Dumbledore walked into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place and announced that Harry and Sirius would attend their first Order meeting in three days.

Harry immediately paled, knowing that this meant he would have to meet the Weasleys soon. Ginny was looking torn between excitement and apprehension, but she grasped his hand under the table and smiled at him.

"Professor?" Harry started, and the headmaster turned to look at him. "I'm going to take Ginny home tomorrow; do you think you could come with us and, er . . . explain things a bit?" He smiled nervously.

The headmaster's eyes twinkled alarmingly, and Harry had the strangest feeling he was planning something.

"I'm sorry, my boy, but I cannot. I'm sure the Weasleys will understand when you tell them what happened."

Harry's heart sank, but he hoped Dumbledore was right. His health depended on it.

* * *

AN 

As always, review! Even if only to tell me you read it.

Looks like Dumbledore's planning something, as usual...

Next chapter out as soon as I can get it out, but it'll probably be along one so I don't know much time it'll take me. Patience, Grasshopper.

**Haley Carr: **Thanks. So you're a redhead?Cool! I'm a big fan of redheads personally, something Harry and I have in common.

I've seen the first Matrix movie, but not the other two. If there's a reference in either story, it wasn't put in by any conscious decision on my part (and I only just saw it for the first time in February). If you figure out what it is that gave you that impression, please let me know! Now I'm curious.

**Fan of Great Works:** But then I'd have to wait longer for them to try to slit Harry's throat!

**Masau: **Yep to Percy, hence him not being in any of the scenes with the Weasleys and Frost.

**Hermione2be: **That's one of my greatest problems, I know. Thanks!

**mysticruby:** Sirius isn't free because the Ministry still thinks he's guilty. That'll change though, once Harry's through with them.

**Briea:** Definitely an epilogue. I put a prologue, so I have to finish with an epilogue

**Miss Anonymous hp:** Remus comes in next chapter, I promise this time.

**rajahansa sadaiva:** I've been looking into teaching as a career, and it turns out that most people just get a general teaching degree, so they don't always get to teach what they're actually good at. Hence, bad Chem teacher. My condolances! Nice blushie face, it made me laugh.

**been:** I'll keep that in mind, and if I see their music anywhere I'll check it out.

**wavefunction: **No manipulative Dumbledore in this. I did that in BoL, so I decided to do it different in this story. I don't think it would really fit here either. He won't be a student at Hogwarts, Dumbledore's just going to train him one-on-one, like an apprentice as you said. He already knows everything he needs to know to graduate from Hogwarts, so he doesn't need to attend really.

I considered having Molly walk in on them while sleeping (because it would be SO funny) after someone suggested it (maybe it was you, I can't remember), but it didn't seem to fit with what I was planning for the Weasley confrontation so I decided not to go with it. Too bad, it would've been hilarious.

Dumbledore doesn't KNOW about Harry's animagus for yet (thought he suspects). He finds out when they start training together.

**EsperJones: **He won't. Dumbledore's going to train him,but that doesn't mean at Hogwarts, necessarily.

**weselan:** see above answer to wavefunction. brilliant idea, and I almost used it.


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